A Run in of Sorts (closed)

[Dvlrockin]

Amon had been in the town of Scara Brae for 3 days now. It was an interesting place to him, the varity of people here and everything that he had learned from them caused his prolonged stay. In his travels he normally spent no more than 2 days at one place for he either became bored and uninterested with the citizens there or they became suspicious of him, seeing as how he was a Dark Elf and no matter how much he tried to be nice and civilized some people just couldn't see through this.

Amon had just left out of the Inn where he was staying, it was early in the morning, but it was regular for Amon to go out on a walk before the town really got busy. He was walking down the street taking in the fresh air and pondering over many things in his head. One thought that always bothered him was whether or not he left his home in the correct way. Perhaps he could've talked to them, it was unlikely that they would've listened, but he could've tried. Also, he still felt bad for injuring his brother.

Amon's brother was another thing on his mind. Before Amon had ran away from him, his brother had sworn to track him down and repay him for what he had done. It had been a little over 6 months now since Amon had left home and he hadn't seen or heard any sign of his brother, but he knew that after the 2 or 3 months that it would've taken for him to completely heal, his brother would leave and indeed be after him.

Amon wasn't a hard person to find either. The townsfolk were somewhat interested to see a Dark Elf that was not only a scholar, but a friendly person. But at the same time, Amon asked many questions to better his knowledge, and from what he gathered most of these towns didn't see many Dark Elves pass through, so if his brother asked them had they seen a wandering scholar of his race, they would most certainly tell him they had.

Amon wondered just how far his brother would take things when he finally caught up to him. Amon was a smart man and knew his brother well, that is why he never for a second thought that his brother wouldn't find him, it was just a matter of time. However, Amon did wonder what exactly his brother would do to him. He had been lucky in escaping his brother the first time, he had not expected Amon to attack him and Amon took advantage of that. But the next meeting would be different. Amon knew his brother would come looking for revenge when he found him, and possibly to take Amon back to their home.

However, Amon knew he couldn't ponder these things for the rest of his time, otherwise he would never enjoy anything. As he wiped these things from his head he realized that he had been walking for a very long time now. Amon saw a nice tall tree with plenty of shade up ahead not very far from him.

A little relaxing under the tree should do me good. Amon thought as he walked up to the tree and sat down underneath it, leaning against its trunk.

[Seraphima]

Meanwhile, a very different person was walking the streets of Scara Brae city.

She couldn't be considered a scholar, for she couldn't read. Not that she didn't enjoy learning -- every day brought something new and wonderful. But across her unseeing eyes was a blindfold. From her right hand, an oaken cane tapped along the street, probing it to make sure there was nothing in her path to trip her.

In her left hand was a leather strap that attached to a harness. Cinched snugly into that harness was a big black labrador retriever with chestnut points on him, guiding his blind mistress surely toward the place they normally sat for a bit in the mornings, just before she searched for a job.

They stopped at an intersection, and Maurizio glanced up at his mistress. She was beautiful for a human, a clean forehead and a sharp, bold nose that wasn't too big. Her lips were small but full, and her chin wasn't overly big. Her long pale hair fell lazily in great curls down to the middle of her back. Though she couldn't see, she carried herself alertly, with her back straight. Her blue cotton dress flowed down to her ankles and sturdy boots encased her tiny feet.

A break in traffic came and the dog led her through and into the fountain plaza. One good sniff told him that someone out of the ordinary was there, and there he was, right under the tree. He looked harmless enough, though, so the dog didn't feel the need to go inspect him.

The woman grinned as she heard the water falling into the fountain not too far away. This was her favorite place in the entire city, where she could feel the sun on her face and hear the soft shush of falling water droplets and the whisper of the leaves in the breeze. "Seems that we're here, Maurz."

The dog panted and wagged his tail, starting to lead her over to their bench.

At least, that had been the plan. A group of boys no older than twelve to fifteen swooped down upon them, some of them grabbing at Maurizio's harness and yanking it, meanwhile the others trying to pry the woman's slender hand from the harness.

The sudden shaking and bumping disoriented and frightened the blind woman, but she couldn't just strike out at children to make them let go. It was all she could do to grip Maurz's harness and not let him go.

"No, stop!" she pleaded. "I need this dog, let him go!" Maurizio growled, but didn't snap at the children, so his annoyance was largely ignored.

"Aww, c'mon, lady. We won't hurt him," said the oldest boy, yanking roughly at the harness. "We just want to play with him."

"No, leave us alone! Someone help!" Sara dropped her cane, letting it clatter to the ground to try and hold onto the harness with both hands, and one of the boys seized the opportunity to grab the long oaken stick and prod both woman and dog with it.

The woman's cries for help grew desperate...without cane and dog, she would be worse than lost in a land where she had no one to help her.

[Dvlrockin]

As Amon was sitting under the tree relaxing he heard a woman approcahing as she spoke.

She walks with a dog and carries a cane. And that blindfold...she must not be able to see. Amon observed as the woman made her way twoards a bench.

Amon was about to go back to his inward thoughts when he saw several young boys approach the woman and her dog. They took from her the dog's harness. The woman became disoriented and looked as if she would soon fall. Amon heard her pleas to the boys not to take her dog, that she needed him dearly. She attempted to wrestle the harness from the boys, but the one who seemed to be the oldest took up her cane and pushed her over with it. She was crying for help, and Amon could not just sit there idly while this happened right beside him. At the same time Amon knew he had to be delicate about the situation, afterall, they were only kids and he was always on edge with the townsfolk being that he was a Dark Elf.

Amon quickly jumped up and approached the boys.

"Excuse me boys, but just what do you think you are doing? This woman is obviouslly blind, and you have just taken from her the only means she has of walking around this city without stumbling, falling, and getting lost."

The oldest boy, the one who had taken her cane and pushed her over with it now turned the cane on Amon.

"Back off freak. We live here, and we'll do what we want, we only want to play with the dog for a while, she can wait." as he said this he took a swing at Amon with the cane. Thought Amon easily avoided this blow he knew that something a little more drastic would need to be employed to get these boys to leave the woman alone, he knew this might mean trouble for him, but he couldn't just leave the situation alone.

"Freak eh? Maybe I am. But how would you like it if I were to take from you your only means of sight. The only way you have to navigate this city you claim to be yours. You know nothing of my people, our children have respect for others, and their elders, it is taught to them at a very young age. Now normally, where I am from, if I were to witness something like this, I would not hesitate to inflict some sort of pain on you. But seeing as how this is not my home, I will give you this one chance to leave her alone and get lost now. If you do not, I will not be able to restrain myself and I will treat you as if you were a child of my people." Amon said with a most serious look in his eyes and a voice that was drenched in malice. He hated to do this, but he knew that nothing else would make these boys leave the woman alone.

The children looked at him in shock, not only was he a freak, but he was now threatening to harm them in some way that people like him thought to be normal. They knew that there was more of them than there was of him, but at the same time they were not willing to risk anything, they would simply go home and tell their parents about this, and they could take care of it.

The children quickly fled, dropping the dogs harness and the oaken staff.

Amon rushed over to the woman and helped her to stedy herself. In his most comforting voice he said to her, "I am sorry I had to use such language and empty threats on the children but I could see no other way to make them leave. My name is Amon and I mean you no harm at all. Are you alright?"

[Seraphima]

Sara was shaking, the whole scenario, though it had happened before with other children, was always disorienting and frightening. The dog had come back to her, and she gripped the harness tightly as the man -- a foreigner, from the way he had threatened the children, but she couldn't begin to guess where from.

"I'm...I'm all right," she answered him. "Just...a little flustered. I'm Sara, my dog is Maurizio."

She turned around and started tottering unsteadily toward where she thought she'd heard her cane drop. The dog nudged her leg gently and went to pick it up for her, putting it into her hand, and she took it and knelt down by her canine guide, hugging him.

"Good boy, Maurz. Good boy."

She straightened up, planting her cane in the ground, then she turned to Amon, or at least, the last place she'd heard him speak from. "I'm sorry for getting you caught up in that...but I really would be lost without my dog, so thank you for coming and rescuing us like that."

[Dvlrockin]

"It's ok, really." Replied Amon.

"I would've liked for them to have left you alone after I let myself be known and that I wouldn't tolerate such things as that, but unfourtunately for me they would not have it that way. I hated having to revert to such a barbaric manner of solving the problem but I could see no other way." Amon said with a tinge of dissapointment about his voice.

"The only thing that troubles me is that the young thugs will most likely go to their parents now, and that could present somewhat of a problem for me. I am not from here, as I'm sure you have already guessed, but to the townsfolk I am apparently more unwanted than most travelers. I would think that I would be used to it by now, but such is not the case. It upsets me slightly every time it happens, knowing that people judge me by how I look and form opinions of me before they even have a chance to talk to me." Amon said and finished with a sigh.

"Oh dear, forgive my lack of manners, here I am rambling on about how hard I have things and I haven't even told you my name." as he said this, Amon lightly rapped himself in the forehead.

"My name is Amon, I am a traveling scholar of sorts."

Amon sat down on the ground and looked at Maruizio.

"Your dog is very loyal, and from what I can tell well trained, I noticed he never once even snapped at the children." Amon said looking the dog up and down, admiring its build.

"So, do you think me some freakish brute as most of the townsfolk do, or to my delight would you happen to be among the more intellegent of the town who actually think to give one a chance before passing a judgement?" Amon inquired lazily as he gazed at the sky.

[Seraphima]

"You did tell me your name as you were helping me get my bearings back."

Amon's voice told Sara much of what other people would garner from their eyesight alone: how far away he was from her, how tall he was (and how tall he was when he sat), what direction he was facing, even the movements he made.

Now that she could spare more attention to listening to him, she could hear that he was indeed foreign, but she didn't know from where. But the stress on the 's'es and lightness on the vowels indicated that he wasn't human...an elf of sorts, maybe? But most Elves (from the few she'd heard) had a clearer, more flowing voice. Too tall to be a Dwarf, so what...?

As Amon complimented Maurz, Sara patted her dog. "He is loyal. The second thing I remember clearly was him finding me...I didn't even know I had a dog. And he is well trained...although I'm told that's normal for seeing-eye dogs." Sara smiled, but that faded as he asked if she thought he was some sort of brute.

"Well, most people tend to make judgments on what they can see and what they have experienced. Hard as I might try, I can't see you, and my experience only goes back some six months...I don't remember anything before that. So what my limited experience tells me is that someone willing to intervene on my behalf when children like that are attempting to steal my dog is not a brute, but a gentleman...and as for freak...I'm told that a freak is in the eye of the beholder..." she let out a hesitant smile with her pale pink lips. "I'm afraid I don't have eyes capable of beholding anything."

[Dvlrockin]

Amon was taken aback by her reply. He had not been spoken to so kindly since he had left his home. For a moment he sat there, unable to think of what to say.

"Sara, I thank you for what you have said. You show that there are indeed people who judge people by their actions, and not their looks nor their speech. I was begining to doubt if an outsider like myself had any place anywhere now. I left my home to travel and see the world and interact with it's people. However, I did not anticipate how I would be taken by the people with whom I saught to interact. Most of their reactions to me are, to say the least, undesirable. I only wish to travel and learn what I might, but apparently being what I am, that is something most people cannot grasp." Amon replied with a sigh at the end.

Amon slowly stood up and strecthed himself out a little.

"Sara, I was wondering perhaps if you would allow me to walk with you a while. I fear my time here will be shortlived now because of what just occured, but I would atleast like to enjoy the latter part of my stay, and you, I must say, are rather enjoyable company.", Amon politely requested.

[Seraphima]

Well, this was odd. Only a few people had actually wanted to spend time with the blind woman before. She'd assumed it was because she fell so far out of the normal paradigm, where with a wink and a grin most people could communicate, that she made others feel uncomfortable.

But here was some rare person who had not only helped her at the time she was most helpless...he was actually asking to continue spending time with her. This had happened maybe twice in the week or so Sara had come to Scara Brae. Perhaps it was because he or others saw him as a freak. Maybe he was as lonely and frightened in this new world as she was.

"Well...normally we sit here in the park. No, it isn't a park." Frustration seeped into her voice. Before she'd come here, there'd been a park she'd liked to go sit in. "I meant fountain square. I don't know the rest of the city very well...or at all...and it does take time to learn these things. But if you'd like to walk, I'm sure we could."

[Dvlrockin]

"Sara, to me it does not matter where we go, if you are more comfortable here then I am fine with that, it is a rather relaxing place afterall. My only wish is to speak with you for a while and perhaps learn a few things from you. I wish I had more time, but as I said before, I fear those rascals from before are going to cause quite a bit of trouble for me, and I'm not so sure that I'll be able to stay here afterwards."

Amon took a deep breath and sighed.

"You know, you and I aren't so different. We are both judged by others for what they do not understand. You are blind, so people think you either an easy target or someone who would be too difficult to communicate ideas with to bother. I, on the otherhand, people look at in disgust because I am different from them and because people of my race are generally not very likeable individuals. I wish all of the world were like you, open minded and judged people by their actions and their personality, not on stereotypes and what they might have heard. Yet, I know that this is but a dream, so I deal with it as best I can, as I well imagine you do."

Amon looked around for a moment, taking in the scenery. He then turned to Sara.

"So Sara, would you like to stay here where you are comfortable and know the enviroment, or would you like to venture out somewhere else. I figure between myself and your companion we will well be able to help you find your way around, and I will do my best to explain to you what it is that I see whenever we get to wherever it is we might be heading."

[Seraphima]

Sara's head turned down to the dog at her side, who sat next to her, tail wagging gently. There was so much of a bond between girl and dog that it was impossible to think of the one without the other. There would be no dog without the girl, and the reverse was also true.

She was pale enough to look ethereal, he was dark like night. She was small and slender, he was big and muscular. Despite the inherent contrast, there was a quality of unity between them that made the individual dog and the individual woman part of a whole.

For a moment they remained like that, and then Sara spoke, voice light and airy as the wind, but clear as a bell.

"What do you want to do, Maurz? Walk more, or stay here? I know you can get me wherever I need to go."

Maruizio stood up and shook his fur, the sound of it falling on Sara's ears.
"It looks like he's in the mood to walk more. So we'll be glad to walk with you, Amon."

The girl bent down, placing her hand on the dog's back and stroking gently until she found the leather strap. She took a grip on it and then stood erect.

"So...which direction are we going?"

[Dvlrockin]

"Sara, I admire the bond you have with your dog, I am indeed glad that I came upon you and was able to help you and your compainion out, I shudder when I think just how far those scoundrels might have gone had they remain unchecked."

Amon began to slowly walk to the east.

"I supposed we'll head twoards the eastern edge of the town, I don't know much about this town either, but I love taking in scenery."

"So Sara, if you don't mind me asking, what caused your blindness? Was it from birth or did something happen to you later in life? You seem to have adapted very well to it, so I doubt it was something that happened very recently. I only ask in an attempt to understand you as a person better. You are a very interesting individual to me, I must admit." Amon said with a slight smile on his face, he knew Sara couldn't see it, but hoped that she could tell from his voice that he was truly interested in what she had to share.

[Seraphima]

Maurizio followed Amon, leading Sara up beside him, and her cane made staccatto rapping sounds against the stone of the street as she walked.

East, west, north, south...these were words with no meaning to her. Foward had meaning. As did backward, right, and left. Scenery was another such meaningless word, but let the seeing enjoy what beauty their eyes could show them. It was only right.

So they walked, and Amon asked his question, how long had she been blind? He was smiling, a little bit...a smile put a little bit of a lift in the voice, and Sara heard that now.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know. My earliest memory is only about six months old, and I was blind then. Some time later -- a few days, I would guess -- Maurz found me, and after that I was able to start moving around on my own. It took a while...but I learned. And what about you? I've never heard an accent like yours...so why are you afraid that you'll be forced to leave?"

[Dvlrockin]

Everything was great in the conversation until Sara reached the point that he knew would come up eventually, why he would be forced to leave.

Amon was a bit scared to tell her, she was really the first person who was truly kind to him, not out of just politeness. But, at the same time Amon knew that she had the right to know, he could only hope that she would remain unjudgemental as she had been up to this point.

"Well Sara, I am going to be honest with you. I'm afraid I'll be forced to leave because I am a Dark Elf. My people have made quite the nasty reputation and sadly, most people belive it all. You see, those rascals are going to go back to their parents, and they will tell them what happened, with a good deal of exageration of course. Next, their parents will kick into their heads the common stereotype of the Dark Elves, and they will add it up with the story, and obviously think that I meant their young ones harm. They will come after me, and if I do not leave, they will most likely try to hurt me. I do not wish any sort of physcial confrontation with the townspeople, I'm not so much worried about whether or not I could handle myself and prevent myself from being hurt, but I don't like the violence. I can only hope that either the children do not say anything because they are scared it will get back to them harassing you, or that their parents chalk it up as a lie and do not follow up on anything they say. Sadly, the most likely thing is that they are going to be looking for me soon."

Amon paused a second and let Sara take in what he had just told her. There was more he was willing to tell her should she want to know, but he waited patiently to see her reaction to what he had just said.

[Seraphima]

Ah-hah. There was the accent and why she'd never heard it before. She'd never encountered a Dark Elf before.

"And all Dark Elves are expected to be evil, right?" She laughed, a little sound, like water slipping over the rocks in a shallow part of a little brook. "That's like expecting all Elves to be noble, all Dwarves to like digging and metals, all Demons to be evil, or all Angels to be perfect. Stereotypes are formed from the biases of a few individuals from encounters with a few individuals. It would be like saying all blind people are clumsy. I might be clumsy without my cane and my dog...but I met a man a few days ago who is blind and has long been blind, and he could navigate perfectly without a dog, and his cane was merely to help him support himself...he was a very old man. So I will treat you as an individual, and you can stay with me. If anyone comes to chase you away, I'll tell them what really happened."

[Dvlrockin]

Amon was completely taken aback by what Sara had just said. Not only was she saying that she could care less about him being a Dark Elf but she was also willing to stand up to the rest of the townsfolk to tell them the truth about what happened. Nobody had ever cared enough to really be nice to Amon, let alone possibly risk something for him.

"Sara...I don't know if you understand how much this means to me, what you have just said. Since I left my home I have known nothing but hate and odd glances. The few people that have been somewhat decent to me where only using mock courtesy so that I would leave them faster. And here you are, not only treating me as an individual, regardless of where I come from, but you are also risking your neck for me."

Amon paused a second to grasp what as going on.

"Sara, thank you so much for what you are doing. If you will allow me, I'd like to take you to the forest on the westeren side of town. It is the opposite direction of where we are headed now, so we will have to turn around, but I would like to repay you for what you have just done for me."

Amon now had a great smile on his face and his voice was light and cheery. Nobody had ever treated him like this and he was going to enjoy it to the fullest before something or someone came to ruin it.

[Seraphima]

There was an immediate and noticeable change in Amon's voice. The breath he took in after she'd spoken had been filled with both shock and amazement, and then his tone held that clear tone that she had come to associate with happiness and release -- as though a burden had been lifted from around his neck, at least temporarily.

And then he suggested to go somewhere else. Well, somewhere else would not be any less enjoyable, she supposed. There were always exciting things to hear and smell and touch.

And she hadn't...well...felt anything bad about him. Sure, there might be some of his race that were cruel and even evil, but what was the difference to her, Dark Elf or Elf or human? Considerations done, she smiled, turning her head slightly to Amon. Even if she could not see it, others enjoyed being smiled at...and she enjoyed being smiled at, as well, even if all she could sense of it was the upward lilt of the voice.

"Well, since we haven't gone very far east, I don't see it terribly difficult to turn around and go west. What do you think, Maurz?"

The dog wagged his tail and vocalized softly, already starting to turn and push her along with him.

"Well, it seems that it's all right with him. Although...when we get into the forest, I'll slow us down, some. It's harder to navigate when there might be stray tree roots out to trip the unwary hiker."

[Dvlrockin]

As the three of them walked westward twoards the forest, Amon couldn't help but steal a glance at Sara every so often. He was taken aback by her kindness and the fact that she could treat him as an individual without any biases.

The walk to the forest was filled with minor talk here and there, but nothing too interesting. Amon did his best to point out some things he thought were interesting to Sara, doing his best to explain in words what he saw.

As they walked through the town, they drew a large amount of stares. Here, walking down the streets of Scara Brae was a Dark Elf accompanied by a blind woman with her dog. The people didn't know what to think about the odd trio. Many questions ran through their minds, was the Dark Elf her bodyguard, was the Dark Elf taking her somewhere to do something nasty to her, what exactly was he doing with her anyways?

Amon saw the stares and could only imagine what they were thinking. He admitted to himself that the three of them probably did make quite an interesting sight, but he hated the stares nonetheless. He did his best to avoid eye contact and get out of the public eye as quick as possible, but he did not rush to the point where Sara would stumble or lose balance.

As the three of them approached the forest, Amon let out a sigh of relief, they were finally away from the stare of the townsfolk and he felt much more relaxed now.

The forest was a lush green, with plants along the foot path and flowers in the grass. Amon could hear the pleasent chirp of the birds overhead and the chitter of squirrels in the trees. It was a very relaxing scene, one where Amon could easily forget his troubles and enjoy his time with this wonderful woman who took him for what he truly was and not what other people derived from biases of his race.

"Well Sara, we are finally here. This is quite the relaxing place I must say. I know you cannot see it, but the forest is beautiful, however, I know you can hear much better than most humans, listen to the animals, and the way the wind gently moves through the trees. One could spend a lifetime here."

[Seraphima]

"It is nice to get away from the bustle of the city. There, the only bird sounds you hear are the sharp haw! of the crows and the coooooo EE oooooooooo of the pigeons. The pigeons sound pleasant, but it's too much, sometimes. And it smells so...alive...out where there are so many trees and plants."

Sara let go of Maurizio's harness and lifted her cane, gently probing around until the cane reached a tree. Then she let the cane back to the ground, prodding the earth in front of her until she could reach out and touch the bark of the tree with her hand and lean in to smell it. When she did, she smiled. This was one of her favorite sorts of trees, although too much a softwood to have had her cane made of.

"Pine...it's bark is rough and it has that nice fresh winter smell to it."

[Dvlrockin]

Amon could see that Sara was very fond of this kind of tree, as he walked up to the tree and felt it, he could tell it was a softwood tree. He wanted to make Sara a new cane for walking, something sturdy but handmade to thank her for what she had done for him. Just then he thought of something, if he could gather a few stout branches of the tree, and use his pressure skill to bond them together, the resulting single stick would be sturdy enough to use as a walking cane.

Amon quickly climbed up the tree and began chanting his fire spell. Using a small burst of flame directed at the base of a branch, he cut the branch free from the tree and let it fall to the ground. He repeated this process on four branches, and then climbed back down the tree and gathered them up.

Amon could hear Sara asking him what it was that he was doing, but he didn't have time to explain things to her, he had to concentrate on the task at hand, he knew that she would forgive him for not responding once he was done.

Amon gathered the branches very close to each other and quickly snapped off any stray twigs. Once they were fairly smooth he placed them two by two on top of each other. Amon gathered up a handful of dirt and placed it in the middle of the four branches. Once the dirt was there Amon conjured up a small amount of water and sent it through the dirt, turning it into a mud like paste. Once this was finished Amon concentrated on the four branches. He used his pressure spell to slowly apply increasing force upon the branches, pushing in twoards the mud.

The four branches began to creak and snap on the ends nearest the mud, it was working like Amon hoped it would. He continued to apply pressure to the branches, and they began to meld into one, with the mud acting as a sort of glue. Once it was to the point where the 4 branches had now became one thicker, sturdier branch, Amon applied a small amount of fire to what was going to be his present for Sara, a new cane. The mud inside hardened and acted as a glue, ensuring the cane would remain sturdy for a good while to come. As the bark began to heat up, Amon would peel it from the new cane, leaving a smooth finish behind. He peeled all but one small patch from the cane. This patch was right around where Sara's thumb would lie. He did this so that she could feel the bark and remember the tree and the forest that it came from.

Once he was finished Amon stood up and picked up the cane. It was heavier than the branches were, but at the same time it was not overly heavy so that it would be impractical to be used as a walking cane. He brought it over by Sara.

"Sara, I appologize for ignoring your question earlier about what I was doing, but I was making something for you, and I couldn't afford to speak and lose my concentration. I wanted to thank you for everything you have done, it may not seem like much to you, but you have done more than you know for me. Not only have you treated me as an individual, but you have even offered me refuge from the townsfolk if they should try anything against me. To most people I doubt this would seem like much for a gift, but I know you will enjoy it, I left a patch of bark for you to remember the forest by, I do hope you enjoy it."

Amon reached out and gently took ahold of Sara's other hand, the one that was not currently holding a cane. He placed the new cane in her hand and gently closed her hand around it. He then let her hand go and took a step back.

[Seraphima]

Sara could hear everything happening as Amon clambered up the tree and broke off branches from the great pine. The scent of tar pitch filled the air, sticky and sweet and tingly.

"Amon?"

There was no response from the self-proclaimed Dark Elf, and Sara's slightly improved senses could not tell her exactly what was happening. It was at times like this she wished she could see. It was so hard to comprehend the world when so many things were understood primarily through a sense she did not possess. She could hear the branches -- some three to five of them, she would guess -- creaking painfully under what he was doing to them, and she could smell the tar pitch heating up.

"Amon, what are you doing?"

Maurizio was watching this intently, but without concern. This person did not smell hostile, didn't have any hostile intent. And in the end, the fact that Maurz sat quiet was what reassured Sara that nothing too strange was going on.

Finally something was placed in her hand. It was still warm from the flames, but not too much so. Her slender fingers curled around it. The cane he had just made for her, somehow, was smooth like enamel, the pitch having melted and cooled, creating a sort of glaze. There were the little rises and dips present in natural wood, but this only made it easier to hold it, and then there was a rough patch at the thumb where the natural bark had been allowed to remain.

Sara let her oaken walking stick rest against her leg so she could find it again, and then picked up the new pine construct, running her hands over it to admire every inch. A slow smile spread along her mouth, and when she finally put it down, she turned her head back to Amon.

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

[Dvlrockin]

Amon watched as Sara admired the new cane he had just made for her. As a smile crept along her face Amon couldn't help but smile as well. For the first time in a while, he had made someone happy.

As he heard Sara thank him he felt an immense happiness inside of his heart, this woman who had shown him kindness was glad that he had shown her the same kindness in return. But it was more than that, Amon didn't feel obligated to be kind to her, he just wanted to be kind to her. She most likely dealt with many hardships daily due to her blindness, and if Amon could do anything to brighten her life, he would gladly do it, in his mind nobody deserved to be unhappy.

"Sara, I'm glad you like it, I couldn't think of a better way to repay you seeing as how I know you will get daily use of it. I hope this shows you how much I truly appreciate how you have treated me, you have been the highlight of my stay here in Scara Brae, and I doubt there will be anything to top it."

Amon was about to continue complimenting her, but he heard something off in the distance. It was the breaking of twigs and the rustling of bushes. It was loud enough that it seemed to be more than one person, and they were in a rush, not trying to be stealthy at all.

Amon's demeanor quickly changed from a happy one to one of seriousness, what he had feared was going to happen was indeed happening.

Why does this have to happen when everything is going so well? Couldn't they have atleast waited until Sara wasn't here? I can't run from them, Sara won't be able to keep up, and I cannot leave her here for them to stumble upon. Damn it all.

"Sara, I hate to worry you, but what I believe the people are coming for me now. You will be able to hear it soon, listen for the breaking twigs, and the bushes rustling. There is more than one of them for sure, but I can't quite tell how many yet. I am going to try to reason with them, and be fair, but whatever happens, don't worry about me, I will be fine and I don't want anything to happen to you because of me."

Amon slowly turned twoards the sound and awaited whoever was coming, ready to do what he must to avoid violence, but should it be nessecary, make sure that Sara was not involved.

[Seraphima]

Maurizio had smelled and heard the approaching crowd first. There were several people speaking in angry tones, and they smelled hostile. But they were familiar voices, people from town. They had never done anything before now to hurt Sara.

But the scent was overpoweringly malevolent, and as Amon spoke to Sara the dog growled and stood up.

The sounds from her dog diverted Sara's attention. "What is it, Maurz?" but when the dog continued growling, Sara called him back to her side.

"Sit, boy. We will talk to these people first." She heard the dog's haunches settle on the ground, and only now was she beginning to hear the angry murmur of the mob.

"Doubtless we know some of the childrens' parents, and they will hear what their children have done today." Sara's voice was gentler, like a falling sigh, but it resounded with a confidence that would not flinch or back away.

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another admin and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.

[Lye]

exp & gp added