The More Things Change...

[Karuka]

Karuka had been dropped in the middle of Concordia forest only a day ago, dazed and confused from everything she had seen. She had been sent to Eluriand to give a box to Damon Kaosi, and been caught up in Ragnarok in the process. The forces that had been eroding away at the faith she had harbored so jealously for so many years had finally broken through at the destruction she had seen when Kaosi's own actions had triggered the end of the world.

Somehow, everything had been set a-right.

Almost.

The mark on Karuka's forehead was completely gone and her runes no longer spoke to her. Even the pendulum which had helped her find her way for so very long had no direction to its swing, not since she had acknowledged the hopelessness of the situation, and the fact that they were destroyed. The bond had been severed, and without that last remnant of hope that she had something, somewhere...some force looking out on her behalf...she was lost and confused, but she knew that she had to get back on her feet somehow. If there was no longer a cause for faith, she'd either find her own way on her own merit or she'd perish.

I've survived this far.

The red-head had somehow walked from the midst of Concordia and into the bustling Bazaar of Radasanth without even noticing it.

It's time to stop mourning the loss, and time to start trying to function.

More than anything else, if she was going to survive, she would need a good knife or two. Maybe she should even start learning to throw knives. Her spells that had kept her safe from a distance could no longer protect her, and close up, she didn't know how to fight well.

She entered a shop that sold weapons, starting to look around until she found what she was looking for - a pair of matched daggers made of a beautiful white metal, not garnished at all, but they looked sturdy. She didn't look at the shop keeper, still transfixed by the blades.

"May I see these?"

She's looking at two above average quality mythril daggers

[Moonlit Raven]

The high pitch chime fo the door's bell drew my attention from the two young boys currently complaining to me and tattling on one another.

"Good day. Please, take you time and let me know if you find anything you like." I called out as I stared down at the cause of a rapidly headache. Thank the gods these two are not mine. I immediately felt bad for even thinking that. Kale and Gorv, while not children of my body, were certainly mine and I loved them as fericely as I would any child I gave birth too. I held up a hand gaining the two fosterlings silence instantly.

"This is not the time guys, go talk to Illianiel and tell her your stories. She can decide who was wrong, okay?" I frowned at the little mouths that opened and closed, reminding me strongly of baby birds. Shaking my head at the quite 'but' I pushed them both towards the backroom door. Silently I said sorry to Illianiel for sending the two to her.

The sight of familiar, brilliant red hair drifting back and forth as the owner looked around my shop. Once the person, a woman, finally came out into view the golden skin gave it away. Karuka, the traveling companion to Manda. I remembered both women as being rather different than any other person I had ever met. Karuka, for the distinctive accent and coloring. Manda for her spectaticular lack of equestrian skills.

For a moment after Karuka spoke I stood there looking over the woman that stood on the other side of the counter, studying her. No one should be able to lose that horrific of a accent so fast. Is this the same woman that I met in the Concordian forest? I shook off my suspicions and glanced down at the daggers she had indicated.

"Thoes are 150 each. Would you like to inspect them yourself?"

[Karuka]

The voice rang across Karuka's ear familiarly, and Karuka turned her head to look at the shopkeeper for the first time. She was Elena Nito, the Queen of the Moontae of Concordia forest, and the last time Karuka had seen her; five months pregnant. The baby ought to be a year old by now. Why would she be away from her husband, and where was her child?

"Yes, I'd like to see them." The barest hints of the Irish accent clung desperately to the still-sweet voice, marking her as the same woman...merely changed by some event or series of events. It had been that same series of events that led her to the need of some sharper, deadlier weapons than the six-foot long Nihon staff she now carried.

A burst of curiosity made her decide to ask Elena's story.

"This is a long way from home, isn't it, Elena?"

[Moonlit Raven]

I smiled at the light of recognition in Karuka's eyes. Ingoring the question for a moment I open the small case and pulled the two mythril daggers out. For a moment I admired the little blades before setting them on the coutner for Karuka to pick up. As a after thought I picked up the sheathes that came along with the daggers.

"In as much as any place, this is now my home Karuka. what have you been doing with yourself in the time that's passed?"

[Karuka]

"I still wander around...through the wilderness of Alerar, the forests of Dheathain... the Fallien deserts, and to Raiaera to witness Ragnarok. Nothing much out of the ordinary."

Karuka took up the daggers to test how they felt in her hands and found that they seemed perfectly made for her grip. Tapping the blades and testing their sharpness, she found that they were both more than suitable to her needs.

"These are perfect. Can I get these...and maybe something I can throw? I've relied on magic for so long, from a distance, and I don't have that anymore."

[Moonlit Raven]

I could feel a brow raising at the perplexing puzzle Kaurka was presenting me wordlessly. The accent was nearly gone; the odd little dot on her forehead that had seemed so much apart of her was also gone. She seemed colder, darker and more lonely somehow as if the world had beaten the cheerful girl I had met a year ago and a older woman had stepped up to protect the last flickers of innocence.

I looked away, my eyes automatically turning towards the backroom where my daughter played with my fosterlings. A year can indeed bring much change. For better or for worse. I tore my eyes and thoughts away from the too fast growing, enigmatic child and what time would bring. The request for throwing knives forced me to concentrate on the present. For a split moment I found myself angry with Karuka, angry for changing and angry for being here as yet another reminder that nothing remains the same. The time destroys everything.

I forced the unreasonable anger away, mentally shaking myself. Gesturing for Karuka to wait a moment I hurried away, towards a set of balanced throwing knives I knew that were made just for her. It took me moments to locate the cloth wrapped bundle and return to the counter. Giving Karuka a secretive smile I flipped the cloth aside and set the bandoleer aside. Laid out in a neat row six deceptively slender looking knives gleamed in the lamplight.

"I've had this set for months now. Every time I started to set it out something told me to leave it be and wait." I looked down at the shinning steel of the blades and the unwrapped smooth handles. If it were not for the razor's edge I would have thought they were nothing more than some lady's toy as she played at trying to defend herself.

[Karuka]

The grip on the throwing knives wasn't nearly as sturdy as on the shining mythril blades, but that was fine, she thought. These six little steel things were meant to be thrown, not held and whirled.

Now I wish I'd paid more attention on that boat... On a near-miss at being a slave, she'd had an opportunity to watch a master dagger-wielder in action. Of course, she'd been much more intent on trying to defend herself and the other passengers... so now she was just buying weapons that she had no idea how to use.

I'll figure it out.

Still trying to make conversation, she looked back to Elena.

"What prompted you and Avery to come out here? It seemed quite nice in Concordia."

The idea of separation from a loving husband was so foreign to Karuka that she couldn't imagine making a home without him.

[Moonlit Raven]

Inwardly, I winced at the question. Despite the fact that I had been expecting something like it, it still set me on edge. Elena fidgeted for a moment, before sighing softly.

"Avery is not with me, Karuka. We separated after, after our son was murdered. That was almost nine months ago." I stopped and looked down at the tugging on the hem of my skirt. Brilliant green eyes, in a small copy of my face stared up at me with too much intelligence for a child. Despite the memories those eyes invoked and cold chill that traveled up my spine I knelt down, picking up my daughter. Patting the girl between the small draconian wings I turned her to sit on one hip.

"This is Verdandi, she's just about four months old now." I looked at my daughter and wondered at her accelerated growth. Four months old and she looks as if she's a year and a half old. How old will she be by the time she reaches a year old? Three years old? I pushed the frightening thoughts away and lightly bounced Verdandi, trying to coax her little face out from the crook of my neck.

"Verdandi, say hello to one of mommy's friends." I chuckled at the mistrustful stare that was leveled on Karuka.

[Karuka]

If she's already four months...then it must have been nigh on a year and a half ago, if not almost two years since last I saw her...how long have I been on Althanas, anyway?

Karuka regarded the little one for a few minutes with a little melancholy smile. She'd always loved children, loved entertaining them and caring for them. She'd even taken joy out of caring for her younger half-brothers, despite the cruelty of their father.

"Poor thing...it's hard growing up without a father, especially when you know he'd have loved her as much as he loved you."

Karuka had seen how protective Avery had been of his wife, had watched how he'd moved around her and looked at her, and part of her had ached. If she ever found someone who loved her even a fraction as much as Avery had loved his wife, she would find it impossible to let it go, especially after the death of a child.

Reaching over the counter, Karuka lightly ruffled the baby's head. "Good luck to you, little one."

She then looked back up at Elena. "How much for everything?"

[Moonlit Raven]

"Avery doesn't know of his daughter, she was, concieved, the day I tried to leave. It's for the best that he doesn't know either." I felt the familiar rush of anger heat my skin as I thought of the rape.

Mentally, I shook my head telling myself that I should be over it, while forgiveness was not my thing I could at least let go of my anger. As if in reponse to the flair in my temper Verdandi latched harder on me, her little head burrowing under my chin as if seeking comfort and giving it at the same time. Pulling lightly on the small arms that were choking me I smiled and hugged her.

"For the lot of it 500 gold."

[Karuka]

Five hundred was hardly a sacrifice; along her travels, she had accumulated odd coin and objects, and the weight of the money held her down.

She laid the money on the counter, and took up the weapons; the shiny steel knives in their bandolier, and the two light daggers in their sturdy wooden sheaths.

"I guess I should go and try learning the use of these in the one place I know where death is not death. Good day, Elena."

With that, the red-head walked out the door...but not without one look back at the woman that had possessed her dream fully...and then betrayed it.

[Moonlit Raven]

To amuse and distract the child on my hip, I handed Verdandi one of the shiny gold coins to play with. With a casual hand I swept the rest into a slot in the counter that dropped them into the lockable box for the store.

"Take care of yourself Karuka." I called as the younger woman headed for the door.



Transaction complete. Karuka loses 500 gold and gains 100 EXP for good IC interactions.

[Karuka]

EXP added, GP deducted