Chase the Rain

Closed to Reine. Follows the events of Safer Waters.

The bottle sat upon the table a crystal clean glass sat next to it. The two were a marriage of desperation, even as a gloved hand picked up the bottle and tilted it into the glass, filling it with an amber fluid. The light of the nearby candle expanded easily through the room as the gloved hand lifted it to the lips of its master. The light revealed much, it revealed a place filled with various Fae and Darconids. Some were looking at the owner of the hand with disdain, other with a morbid curiosity.

It was nothing the Master wasn't used to.

The hand obediently followed its master's whims and placed the glass, half empty upon the table once more. The wood was worn and weathered, a veteran of a thousand desperate attempts at getting drunk, and would probably weather a thousand more. Even as the figure sat upon a rickety chair, more of an amalgamation of wood in the likeness of a chair than any true means of seating.

The hand rose, brushing a stray lock of crimson red from the worn face of the Master. It stayed there for a moment, shading stormy grey eyes from others view. Giving him the briefest of moments, where he could believe that he indeed did not have to be in Dheathain. As much as the Master hated Dheathain, he was happy to be out of his last locale. He loathed Radasanth with a horrid distaste. After all Radasanth had few good memories, but a sizeable collection of bad ones.

Some had even followed him here.

Hopefully one of the better ones would come sit with him soon. She had after all left the Master so long ago to see about a few things. Not that the Master minded, he merely needed time to sort himself out. He needed to accept the fact he was once more in the rich and vibrant lands of Dheathain, and that he was not going back to the ruins that had been his home for so long. Ruins that were home to a bed that he rarely used in favor of another's, and a woman who he had loved, a home now long since reclaimed by nature.

A woman who had warned him she would disappear one day and he would never be able to follow.

The night was humid sending a brief layer of moisture upon his skin, and rapidly cooling by the soft breezes. The buildings of the area had been propped up so that, with only a smattering of windows, a crisp breeze could prevail through most of the tavern, keeping its denizens cool, even with the oppressive heat about them. Already the vest that he had become accustomed to wearing, was sitting in his pack, and a couple of buttons on his shirt were loose. Following suit his sleeves had been rolled up in an attempt to expose more flesh desperately to the night's air.

A hand gently traced another reminder of the past. A slightly pink line that raced down the Master's forearm. It was the gift of a man who had tried to defend a ruthless tyrant. A man who used the underworld as his toy, to acquire things he truly didn't need. In the end the Master had killed the tyrant, but nearly lost use of that arm. Even now the Master felt exposed to those on the right, even with the reassurance his arm was alright. The Master sighed tiredly before he drank from the glass, more thoughts of the past rolling in.

It was just one of those nights.

Jared Cesarino was tired, and he just wanted to sleep.

Faelynn couldn’t believe it. Dheathain was even more than she expected. The cities looked so cool, the landscape was breath taking and unbelievable, how it could change so drastically, and the people, they were just plain amazing. She’d been gawking since the moment she stepped foot of the ship and had continued to do so all the way to Donnalaich. And you would guess how they’d gotten here so fast! They didn’t walk, no, that would have taken them days and been rather treacherous apparently. They hadn’t rode horses either. Instead, they had ridden on the back of a dragon, commanded by a Draconian, all the way here to Donnalaich! Most people treated that as such a normalcy, but to Faelynn, it was extraordinary. She’d never seen a dragon before in her life and the creature had been so beautiful and gentle even. It had even let her pet it, though the Draconian hadn’t seemed exactly pleased with that, her behaviour, or all of her questions. Apparently, she asked too many when she got excited. Jared had tried numerous times to get her to calm down, but had failed for each one. Eventually he’d just given up, much in the same manor she’d given up on flirting with him. A girl could only be turned down so many times before they were discouraged.

“Are you...okay, miss?”

Faelynn nodded her head as she continued to watch the man behind the counter, of the race known as Fae, heh, kind of funny. He was...amazing. His skin had this slight shimmer to it that she could see only when the light touched it in just the right way. His features were soft and one could say feminine, but still masculine in a beautiful kind of way. His hair was as black as night and carefully styled short upon his head. And the way he moved, it was so graceful. She could only hope to move like that in some way.

“Yes...”

The man narrowed silver eyes on her, gorgeous silver eyes with the barest hint of blue. Or maybe that was his dark, blue shirt reflecting into them.

“Then why are you starring at me?”

“Because I think you’re absolutely gorgeous...” She said offhandedly.

His eyes widened in surprise and a slight smile began to spread across his face, making him seem even more beautiful. He moved away from the rack of keys he’d be going through and walked over to her, then placed two keys on the counter before her.

“How long did you say you were staying?”

“Just the one night for now.”

He nodded and produced a book from behind the counter. Going to the first blank line, Faelynn signed her name along with Jared’s.

“That’ll be 70 gold pieces for the two rooms.”

She reached into her Bag of Infinity and pulled out exactly 70 gold pieces, placing them on the counter. As she pulled away, she scooped up the two keys and placed them in her pocket. With a smile and a sway to her hips, she turned and left The Fallen Leaf Inn or something like that. At least, the Fae behind the counter had said the name meant fallen leaf, or falling leaves. She hadn’t really been paying too close attention to what he had been saying.

She entered in the crystalline and beautiful city of Donnalaich. The architecture far beyond anything she had ever seen before. Perhaps even rivalling what the Elves built in Raiaera and was not being destroyed by Zem’xund’s forces. She moved through the streets with awe, not even caring about the looks she receives from the winged race that inhabited this land. It took her no time to head back to the tavern she’d left Jared in. The man’s mood had gone from bad to worse the moment they had stepped foot in Dheathain and she assumed it wasn’t going to get any better. Just perfect. She should have left him behind in Corone, at least then she could somewhat enjoy herself without feeling his bad mood hanging over her like a cloud.

When she entered the tavern, she saw that it had not improved any either. He was practically moping into the drink before him, staring off at nothing. Sighing and shaking her head, Faelynn pulled up a chair next to him and sat down.

“I got us our rooms, all we need to do now is visit that little Synthesis Shop. Or I could leave you here to wallow in your own self pity.”

If Jared needed a hint of how Reine reacted to his moodiness, he didn't really have to look hard. The girl he had rescued in Radasanth from the Local Guild had been rather overt about her feelings towards Jared. Jared had in turned almost brushed her off with the ignorance he played to her flirting. He was more than certain the girl was going to toss him to the side if he kept it up for much longer. Shaking his head softly he let a dry chuckle leave his lips before he muttered more to himself, "Why don't you tell me what you really think of me?"

He then spied a glance at Reine. The girl wasn't exactly a drop dead gorgeous woman, but she wasn't hard on the eyes either. Jared had figured she was like the girl next door, wasn't exactly what most men aspired to, but if you managed to get her you weren't exactly sad about it either. By all rights and purposes Jared should have been hitting on her, she had made it clear earlier that she had been interested in him, yet every time they got close to being intimate, Jared felt himself freeze up.

It was at those times he finally understood what Serenity was talking about. His sister had warned him about becoming withdrawn because he had lost "the one". She always tried to push him into finding someone else every time his relationships blew up, and boy had they. Yet here he was moping around and possibly pissing off his partner on this trip.

She looked over at him and shook her head, sending her brown hair scattering about her. "Why don't you stop drinking first?"

"Fair enough, I suppose I have had a bit much tonight..." He replied before he lifted the cork and stuck it firmly in the bottle. Finding a bucket for the emptying of glasses nearby he quickly took his drink and poured it into the bucket with a casual flick of his wrist. He then looked over at her and set the glass upside down on the table before he spoke, "All ears."

Sighing, Faelynn leaned back in her chair, crossing her slim and bare legs. "Do you really want to do this?" She didn't even need him to respond, she could tell by the look on his face. "Fine... I think you're an interesting person, but you have a lot of things you need to work out in your head before any woman is going to come within two feet of you. You seem... nice, after all, you saved me, but I wonder about why you bother putting yourself in danger over strangers. Hoping to see a familiar face? Rescue a certain person? I don't pretend to know you, because I don't."

He sat there absorbing the words for a bit before he picked up the bottle and looked at it. Tossing it firmly in the bucket he heard the shattering of glass as a few of the other tavern goers looked at the red headed Lavinian. He could even feel Reine's eyes upon him, possibly wondering what caused such an outburst before he spoke, "You're right of course. You don't know me, and that's mainly my fault. I'd say lets start over, but that's frankly not going to fly. Starting over may have been alright on the boat ride here, but now I've been blubbering about like a fool for too long. Starting over at this point is probably insulting."

"It would be." She said as she raised a single, brown eyebrow. "But that doesn't mean you can't try to make it up to me..."

"Well then, let me answer your question, since I've been avoiding it. That night I was out looking for a fight. I saw the guys cornering you, and I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, rescue you, and get what I craved. See, Radasanth knows me too well, because I killed one of the underworld King Pins. That was also how I met my last girlfriend, who disappeared on me. It's been...difficult to come to terms with that." The words hung out there for a bit before he stretched preparing for the walk to the inn. There was a lot said for her to digest. After all she hardly knew him, and he was telling her stuff she probably couldn't even guess at.

He then shook his head before he looked up at her, "I'm not looking at you as a replacement, and I'm sure you know that. Thanks for putting up with me, and if I get that moody again, you have every right to hit me. I'm here on your time, not my own. If I'm going to be a long suffering jackass I'm going to do it when I'm not around a cute girl."

She didn’t smile at his attempt to flirt with her. She didn’t feel it was appropriate. Faelynn didn’t even know why he was telling her things like that. He barely knew her. He’d basically just picked her up off the street all because a bunch of thieves had decided it would be fun to beat her head in with a wooden pole. He didn’t even know her real name! She should probably change that. After all, Jared trusted her enough to share so much about him and yet she could not even trust him enough to give him her real name. But she was cautious about things like that. The name Reine gave her anonymity when she stole things. It kept her family safe and her family was everything to her. If she lost that she didn’t know what she would do.

“I’ll keep that in mind...” She said rather offhandedly.

Personally, she didn’t really know what to do in this situation. Though Jared had intrigued her in the beginning, it had not lasted very long, especially when she realized just how emotionally broken he was. She wasn’t here to pick up the pieces of his life and help him put himself back together. He could do that himself. She didn’t know him enough to care to help him and barely understood why he was even following her. Did he suddenly think her a good piece of ass to chase after? If he did, he wasn’t showing it and she’d only turn him down now.

Pushing her chair out and scraping the wood against the floor, Faelynn stood. “C’mon, Jackass, we’re heading out to the Synthesis Shop before we bunk down for the night.”

She watched a mischievous smirk spread across his face before he stood up. As she turned her back on him, he let out a bray quite similar to that of a donkey. Raising a slender, brown brow, Fae turned back around towards him.

“Hey, if the shoe fits...”

Shaking her head, she turned to leave the tavern, with him dutifully following behind her.

Outside, the cool air of Dheathain caressed her body, ruffling her clothes and sending a cascade of goose pimples across her skin. Fog had begun to role in from somewhere along this massive continent, making the air thick with moisture and causing the temperature to plummet. The weather in Dheathain really did turn upon a whim. It had been sunny when she had left the Inn.

Shivering, Faelynn stopped just outside the door and turned to Jared. “Well, you’re the one that knows your way around this city...”



((Sorry, pretty dead right now for inspiration. Unless you have something important that needs to happen, I'd just skip right to them walking into the Synth Shop.))

Jared got the feeling his little joke didn't help the situation any. After all he had been acting like a rather large jackass till recently, what with the soreness at Garret poking him every five seconds about how depressing he was being. Couple that with the fact he came more on a whim than any real request from her, and he was more than certain she was questioning his sanity.

Course that was something he did every day, especially with Seth, who still seemed mysteriously quiet.

Come on old man, surely you got something to say?

A derisive snort filled his head before Seth's voice spoke scathingly, Fix your own damn relationship problems. I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself.

Giving the Lavinian Demon a defeated sigh he moved out into the city, as he helped Reine navigate the city. Slipping through crowds he tried to fight through the haze of Alcohol and look somewhat imposing. Then again, imposing to Jared and imposing to the rest of the world was two entirely different definitions. Jared Cesarino was a pragmatic pacifist, that wasn't to say he wouldn't fight; sure he'd fight in self defense. He just hated killing.

Some of these people had no such qualms. The city was filled with Fae and Draconids moving about the area, with little to no care about the two humans moving through the city. Even still it was warm outside, the temperature barely lower than inside the small tavern that Reine had picked him up from. He ventured a glance back to check on how she was doing, and gave out a softer sigh.

He really had to do something right for her, it wasn't right the shit he had put her through, not at all. It seemed more like something Seth would have...

Finish that thought and you'll regret it Cesarino, don't even think to compare us in the realm of romance.

Luckily for Reine, she never heard a word of it, Jared had become more adept at keeping his mouth from running towards the bit of Seth Dahlios that resided in his head. Even now, he wasn't sure just how it had happened, but that little bit of the Lavinian Demon was both blessing and curse.

Tonight, it was just annoying.

Finally he managed to break through the crowds to their destination. A sign hung from a pole that stretched out over the street proudly declaring the shop. Of course, the sign was in two languages he couldn't even make out, let alone comprehend. He reached the door and looked back over his shoulder to Reine before he spoke, "Well, we're here. I got something I've been thinking about getting for awhile too. I'll even promise not to be a depressing jackass if you let me tag along. I'm house trained too..."

He held his breath slightly, pondering if his little joke would even get a smirk from the girl.

Reine looked from the gently swinging and exquisitely carved sign to the redheaded thief standing before her, a man that had quite possibly saved her life. The look placed upon the smooth features of his face said it all; he was trying to lighten the mood. He was trying to win something back from her, a smile, a laugh, something that would say he wasn’t entirely in the dog house anymore. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to let him off all that easily. He’d brooded for the entire boat trip over here and the moment they’d hit solid ground and made it to their destination, he’d found the nearest tavern and buried his face in the drink. He acted like some kind of defeated little boy. A brat that couldn’t get his way so he was going to sulk in the corner until someone gave him a cookie.

And why should she give him a cookie?

Sighing, Reine pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m not particularly interested in something that’s housebroken. If I want a pet, I’ll buy a dog.”

Giving Jared a level look, she turned and moved passed him, pushing open the heavy wooden door. Only a few inches inside the shop, she stopped and stared around at the dim setting, completely and utterly awed. It felt...mystical to her. She couldn’t seem to describe it any other way. Strange, new, unknown? She didn’t know. The windows were covered in heavy, purple drapery. The walls were lined with shelves and bookcases packed with items that she would never even try to identify. Some things seemed all too obvious to her; the weapons and the armour, the jars containing what she assumed to be body parts of native animals and more containing plants, rocks and bugs. The place was not even lit by any candles. In fact, the gentle bluish-purple glow that eclipsed the entire store emanated from several strategically placed crystals. Crystals of all things!

“Wow...this place is...incredible!” A large smile had spread across her face. One of the first one she’d had since coming to this land.

Fae stepped further into the shop, practically drawn into it. Her fingers brushed against the shelves and bookcases containing so many new and interesting things. She felt like a child looking at a new and wonderful world. And really, she probably was. Dheathain was certainly like no other place she’d ever been before and now that Raiaera seemed to be crumbling under the forces of Zem’xund, could this land be even more vast and beautiful than it?

As her steps silently fell upon the wooden floor, Faelynn became aware of a strange fact though. At the back of the shop lay a counter and normally she would find the owner or at least an attendant back there. However, it lay empty. A few items, some open jars with ingredients she didn’t want to think about and some very large books lay scattered about, but not an actual person.

“Odd...” She said rather softly. “Hello? Is there anyone here?” Her voice began to rise with each word she spoke and her feet eventually brought her to the edge of the counter. At the back she could see another of those heavy purple curtains, but this one waved gently as if a breeze lay beyond. Perhaps it covered not a window but a doorway.

She could hear the heavy footsteps of Jared moving about the shop as well, but she ignored them. Just a second ago she thought she’d heard what sounded like a voice from the other side of the curtain. She couldn’t be sure though. That was the last thing she remembered clearly before eyes finally focused once more on the ceiling of the shop.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no! This definitely isn’t good!”

Lasair stared down at the circle before her and the concoction of items she had thrown together hoping to make, well, it was kind of hard to describe. She wanted to make crystals that could record images, but she wasn’t really sure at how she should go about it. She should have done more research. Instead she’d thrown a bunch of items together that were not reacting very well. The item they had turned into was a conglomerate mess of something that wobbled and shook a bit and she was rather certain was going to explode if she didn’t do something about it. The problem was she didn’t know what to do and if she had one more explosion in her shop Aileen was going to get very upset. The customers at the shop next door did not like it when the walls and ceiling shook because things blew up.

Jumping up from her kneeling position, she rushed over to the shelf a few feet from her and grabbed an empty jar off of it. Yes, an empty jar should do the trick. Carefully she approached the item and placed the jar over top. Then she had the sudden realization that jars were made of glass and if it exploded then shards of glass were going to go flying at her. Of course, when she went to grab the jar the item twitched which caused her to squeal.

Just then, she heard the voice of someone calling out from the other room.

“Oh no, customers. I’ll have to save them. If this thing explodes while they’re in the shop it could endanger them!”

Bolstering her courage, Lasair rushed out of the back room and saw two humans standing in her shop and one rather confused and curious looking woman at the counter.

“Duck and cover!” She yelled at the two of them. The redheaded man that looked kind of familiar did exactly as she said. The female on the other hand just looked kind of confused.

“Eh?”

Knowing the blob could explode at any moment, Lasair wasted no time and leapt over the counter, throwing her meagre frame into the other woman. They both landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs, wings, clothes and hair. Covering her head with her hands, Lasair held her breath and waited. Then waited some more. But the item did not explode. Tentatively she raised her head and looked at the covered doorway, but not even the slightest sound came from beyond.

“Hmm... maybe it’s not going to explode.” She said in a rather thoughtful voice. “Well that’s good!”

“Umm...do you think you could get off me then?”

Blinking, Lasair looked down at the woman. She was practically sitting on her stomach and had one of her hands braced just above one of her breasts.

“Oops!” Giggling, the small Fae got off the human woman. “Sorry about that, I had an experiment that went wrong and I thought it was going to explode. Good thing it didn’t though.” She smiled brightly and helped the woman to her feet. “So, what can I help you two with?”

“We're both here to get something made...” The woman said slowly as she brushed her clothes off.

“Then you’ve definitely come to the right place!” Lasair practically skipped into the back of the counter. In a quick motion, she pushed the mess to one side and stood there patiently waiting. “Well? What is it that the two of you—hey, don’t I know you?” She tilted her head to the side as she glanced over at the man with curious golden eyes. He swore he looked familiar.

"Hello Lasair, it’s been awhile..." Jared replied. Slowly he brushed himself from getting up, lodged somewhere between what he could only assume was the spell components section, and things he'd rather not guess at their true nature. It helped the sanity when you just remained blissfully ignorant.

The shop hadn't changed at all since he had last been here, talking about crystals that allowed people to converse at a distance. It was one of a myriad of Brotherhood toys and plans, and now one of a myriad of failures. And all because the fearless leader had abandoned ship, was it a waste of time. Part of him was angry, after all Kyo had seemed too loyal to the group to just up and leave it. Still there was that sadness, that persistent sadness that came from a stolen heart. He merely buried it deep in his heart; he’d deal with those emotions when Reine wasn’t around to get upset at his moping.

Shaking his head to clear the fog he focused on the here and now. Getting caught up in nostalgia was only going to piss off Reine, and he was trying to avoid that at all costs. Not that he genuinely felt the need to do so, but rather than he felt the desire to make amends with the woman he had saved in Corone. Walking up to the counter he shook his head chuckling before he said, "I'm actually here about something for myself. Up in Lavinya we called it fairy dust, basically glitter that clings to everything in an area, allowing us to see hidden items or people..."

He delicately avoided mentioning the Bandit Brotherhood. He didn't need to explain to Reine why he no longer associated himself with the group, even if the rumors of it restarting back in its home had resurfaced. It seemed that the group had been resurrected no less than four times, and each had been a disaster. Ever since Gild Sorrain had taken over the group it had failed to ever reach its former glory.

Lasair placed her long, slender finger against her lips as she tilted her head to the side and looked up. She remained silent a moment or two, her brow furrowing in deep thought. "Umm... you mean like... it clings to invisible things?"

"Pretty much, I don't like surprises, well not as much anymore. So I figured you might be able to make me a bag of the stuff that wouldn't run out..." Jared replied as he brushed some of the loose and wild hair from his face.

"Oh!" The wings on her back fluttered in excitement, sending a small amount of glittering powder flying through the air. "So you want a never-ending pouch of modified Fae-Dust! Or would it be an ever-lasting pouch... do they mean the same thing in common? Oh, I guess that doesn't matter, but that's what you want, yes?"

Jared chuckled reminded of Serenity when she got excited about an idea. His sister's traits seeming to fit perfectly upon the Fae's own. Glad for the cheerful reminder of family he continued, "Yeah, that's exactly it, and you're right, they're the same thing. What would I need for something like that? And how much should I be paying?"

Lasair blinked in confusion. "Paying? But it doesn't cost anything to get things made at The Synthesis Shop! You just need to bring me the ingredients. Truth be told, I use the left over items and sell them, or make things from them and sell them that way! Oh, but you need the necessary items first." Lasair cleared her throat, then yelled rather loudly from someone her size. "Godhand! I need my tome on crystals!"

A mumbled shout could be heard in response from the back room, which only caused Lasair to giggle. A moment later, a twelve inch plushie version of Godhand Striker walked out carrying a tome far bigger and heavier than he.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah..." He said as he wandered off. Smiling, Lasair lifted the tome onto the desk and began leafing through it. "Thankfully this enchantment will be rather simple." Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill she began writing things out. A few minutes later, she finished and handed the paper to him. On it was listed; 1 foot of leather, two handfuls of Mana Dust (the stuff that comes off the wings of Fae), 1 crystalized vortex or black hole, and 1 arthru crystal.

Looking at the paper he raised an eyebrow before he nodded firmly, "Thanks Lasair." He then looked over at his traveling companion before he said, "Well, guess it’s your turn..."

Faelynn had patiently watched the exchange between the two of them. Just like Jared had mentioned, he did seem to know the owner of the shop, but curiously enough she recognized him but could not place him. Had basically said so herself and asked him from where they had met. He’d strategically avoided the question and gone straight into business, possibly taking advantage of her ditsy behaviour. She seemed like a small child that couldn’t focus on something for too long. Fae couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she waved something shiny in front of the girl’s face.

A quick image came to her mind of dangling something shiny before the small Fae, then plucking it up every time her small hands tried to reach for it. She couldn’t help but find it absolutely adorable and hilarious at the same time. Then when she looked back at the small woman she totally believed it would happen and had to cough to hide a barely choked out laugh.

“Sorry about that, had something caught in my throat.” Faelynn said as a slightly, embarrassed blush touched her cheeks.

Stepping up to the counter, Faelynn bit down on her bottom lip, trying to think of the best way to describe the item she wanted. If this Lasair really could make it, it would make her thieving that much easier. “I’m looking for something that would allow me to see in not only darkness, but complete darkness. A portable version of what some races naturally have as night vision. Something I can take on and off.”

The small woman smiled brightly, and her golden eyes practically sparkled with excitement. It was almost infectious how happy she seemed all the time. “So, you want a pair of night vision goggles or glasses?”

‘Hmm... yeah, something like that, but I want it to wrap around my whole face almost in like a thin… umm… band… or…” Not really knowing how to describe it, Faelynn traced the lines across her face. She basically just wanted it to fit right on the bridge of her nose like normal glasses and wrap around to her eyes. But instead of two lenses, she wanted one constant band.

“Oh, I see what you mean!”

The Fae began rapidly turning the pages of the same book before her, as she searched for something. When she found it, she grabbed another piece of parchment and began scribbling as well. Then, she called for two more books from that little stuffed thing known as Godhand. It brought them and she went to her work once more. When done, she handed the parchment to Faelynn. There were not too many items on it, but it seemed like more than what Jared had. She needed to collect 1 clear crystal, 2 pitch black crystals, 3 fire flies, the eyes of a Runda, 7 grams of prevalida and a handful of mana dust. It seemed like between the two of them, they needed a lot of mana dust.

“Thanks…” Faelynn said rather absently as she looked over the list.

“Oh! I wrote some guidelines for finding some of the harder items on the back, but really, neither of the things you two want is really hard to mak—I remember now!” The small woman practically squealed as she clutched her hands together and jumped into the air. Faelynn on the other hand almost had a heart attack.

“Gah! Remember what?”

She appeared to ignore her. “You’re from The Bandit Brotherhood and your name is Jared! You came in with that Akashima woman who was leading the Brotherhood and the two of you were looking for some interesting items to help you. I heard that the group was abandoned a little while ago and neither you nor Kyo ever came back with the ingredients for you synthesis. Is Kyo okay?”

In all honestly, Faelynn barely heard much beyond ‘The Bandit Brotherhood’. Jared had been a member of that legendary group? She’d heard about it, hell, she practically idolized them, or truth be told she idolized Yari Rafanas. The man was an inspiration to almost any thief and she wished she could do in her life a third of what he had done in his. But Jared, a member of the BB? Was he not already in the Lavinian Guild? How could he be in both at the same time? Did this have something to do with his feelings for this place?

Faelynn glanced over at the man. He seemed tense, but beyond that, she couldn’t read the emotion on his face. She didn’t know him enough. All she knew was that something had happened in Dheathain, something that hung on his heart and would not go away. Why had he agreed to come here then?

He froze, hearing Kyo's name upon another's lips. He fought back the crushing despair of her betrayal, her leaving him. Looking at Lasair he gave a wistful sigh before he spoke calmly, or as calmly as he hoped he could, "I wouldn't know, haven't seen her in months. If you catch sight of her, could you tell her she can find me in the usual spots?"

Lasair blinked in surprise. "Uh, oh... well, umm...sure!" Jared was more than certain she had been taken aback by such a request. Jared usually held back around other members of the Bandit Brotherhood. When they were both in Dheathain, Jared had taken to acting like a proper boyfriend to the enigmatic ninja. It was mainly because he could, and more so because Kyo didn't complain.

Once more he tried to hide the jagged wounds her leaving him had created as he thanks Lasair for the time and the list. Assuring her he'd be back soon enough, before he moved out of the shop and stepped outside quickly, taking a steadying breath. Even if it felt a bit ragged, showing clearly he was not ready for this.

But really if he wasn't ready now, when would he be? He had to move on with his life, and perhaps tearing the scab off the wound was the right thing to do. Perhaps dealing with it head on would cure the pain he felt deep in his heart, where that had only been the bliss of Kyo. Shaking his head to clear it he looked up at the night's sky before he muttered, "I really shouldn't have drank before I visited Lasair. I'm getting too emotional..."

It was at that time the skies began to let forth a gentle trickle of rain. Jared's face turned up to the sky as a gentle smile crossed his face. A hand ran through his hair, forcing it from his face as the water began to dampen his hair, holding it in place. A gentle laugh left his face at the warm water upon his face before he spoke softly, "I almost forgot my favorite part about this place."

No matter how dire things got, this place always washed away the past.

Looking over his shoulder to find his companion he kept the smile on his face as he offered a hand back, “Shall we?”

Her mind was reeling with all the new information. She didn’t know how she should sort it or even where to begin really. Part of her wanted nothing more than to question Jared endlessly and see what interesting answers he had lurking in that skull of his. He might know secrets about the BB that she could only dream of, not to mention the location of the legendary thief Yari Rafanas himself. Just because this incarnation of the group had not been started by him did not mean that they did not have any connections with the man himself. And yet, when she looked up into the face of the man, all those questioned died upon the tip of her tongue, swallowed, never to return. She couldn’t do it. Seeing the outstretched hand and the look on his grey eyes, part of her just knew it wouldn’t be right. It would be like dumping the whole salt shaker on the wound and rubbing it raw.

Maybe she’d been too rough on him. Sure, he’d been rather tense and depressed, but maybe he had a good reason to be. And maybe he just needed someone to pull him out of his little funk and show him how amazing and enjoyable life could be once more. Though she could not promise to rid his mind and his heart of all its troubles, heck she couldn’t even promise to be nice to him. She could strive to make this an enjoyable vacation for the man; after all he had helped her in a bind.

Faelynn allowed her lips to pull up in a small smile. “Sure, the Inn is not very far from here.”

As she extended her hand to his, she realized that a light drizzle was beginning to fall from the skin. The small droplets of water impacted along her jackets, exploding in a small shower of water. They even grazed her face, the warm water trickling down her cheeks and jaw. Tipping her head back as she wrapped her fingers around his hand, she smiled a full bright smile that ignited a fire in her golden green eyes. She was beginning to feel like her time in Dheathain would not be wasted after all.

--------------------------------

The lower level of the Inn was a little crowded. It was not packed, but with the rain outside it seemed like a number of people had decided spending time indoors would be a good thing. Faelynn agreed wholeheartedly. By the time they made it back to the Inn, her hair was rather wet and the shoulders of her jacket had absorbed their face share of water too, the rest of her—aside from a few key areas that stuck out—were mostly dry. Thankfully the place was warm and two fires blazed brightly in stone hearths, providing light and warmth. Finding a small vacated booth, Faelynn led Jared towards it, quickly sliding in herself.

The soft cushion of the seat enveloped her behind and the moment her feet left the ground, she relaxed with a sigh. They were sore from walking around so much. Though The Iron Shackles were great for battles and she barely went anywhere without them on, they were not the most comfortable boots to wear for a prolonged period of time. In all honesty, she couldn’t wait to get to their room and strip them off. Yeah, their room. It was cheaper to get one room with two beds then separate rooms and seeing as how they’d slept in the same room on the ship she didn’t think it would be a problem.

“You know, this one time my brother and his friend Connaire had enchanted this sword my brother Ferynn made. They enchanted it so that the blade could shoot fireballs at the user’s command, by draining energy from the user.” Faelynn began as she settled back against the booth, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips as she recalled the day. “They asked me to test the weapon out like they always do. So, I went into the backyard, lifted it up and pointed it at a man made of straw. Well, the fireball worked, in the sense that the sword exploded in a rain of fire and molten metal.”

She laughed softly as she remember how freaked out she had been at the time. Pulling up the sleeve of her jacket, she showed Jared a deep, white scar along her forearm, stretching towards her elbow. It was about three inches long. “Thankfully the only part of me that blasted sword left a mark upon. Honestly, those two are insane. They always get me to test out their latest experiment and that’s not the only time one has gone wrong. You should hear the story about the chainmail bikini that was supposed to turn me into a mermaid...” She trailed off, shaking her head at the memories.

Jared laughed at the thought of the crazy magical devices she surely had tested. Still he couldn't help but get the image of Reine in a chainmail bikini. Then again, he had the opportunity to see her in less, and like an idiot he had not capitalized on it. Perhaps Garret was right, perhaps he needed to stop pining for what he didn't have anymore and go out looking for something. Maybe he had missed his chance with Reine, but at the very least he could try once more, and see where it went. If they just ended up as friends, oh well. It wasn’t like he was in desperate need of the intimate affection.

"Reminds me of my sister Serenity," He smiled leaning back in the chair and sipped at the cup of water he had ordered to sober up. He then set the cup down before he continued, "She was always a headstrong girl. Tended to get in trouble for thinking she could get away with things. One time she found this stray cat, and she was bound and determined to house train the thing..."

He shook his head remembering how it went, "Eventually the cat was driven so crazy by her splashing it with water or smacking it on the nose, it began peeing on everything in sight. Finally mom had had enough, and threw the cat out. I think that was the closest I had ever seen Serenity get to being in trouble. House reeked for weeks..."

At least, it was what he called the shack he had grown up in. Looking up at Reine he couldn't help but feel that the girl was of the wealthier crowd. Then again, living in a place like Lavinya meant that a lot of people were. Perhaps that's why Lavinians and Radasanthians never got along, Radasanthians didn't know what it meant to suffer and struggle to survive.

Shaking he head he realized he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings, with his thoughts drifting everywhere. Looking back at the girl he gave her a smile before he said, "So tomorrow, where we heading first? I'll try to give you at least an idea of what to expect and if we might need anything. That way we'll be prepared I guess..."

Why had Jared come? First Radasanth, now Dheathain, it was like he was on a pilgrimage to every place he hated. Radasanth was number one for his bad experiences with Roland, and Dheathain a close second for its xenophobic people and the memories of Kyo. Really, he could have been much better off leaving the girl and not played tour guide. Was it hope, desire, was he actually trying to move on by being with another woman?

Jared looked at the mysterious Reine, taking her in once more from a fresher perspective, and he finally realized he needed answers, soon.

Faelynn smiled as she listened to Jared’s story about his sister. It seemed like both of them had some unique characters in their family, but that was probably why they were so close in the end. A family is not really a family without a few oddballs rolling around. They always seemed to keep things interesting in the end. Besides, Faelynn was not exactly perfect either. She was a thief for crying out a loud. At least her brother had a stable and legal job that didn’t require him to break and enter and also didn’t put his life at risk...unless he went to Connaire for enchanting. That was a whole different story.

“Oh yeah, Lasair said there were some locations on the back...”

Faelynn trailed off as she reached into her bag and pulled out the pieces of parchment that Lasair had given the two of them. Just as the child-like woman had said, in beautifully scripted handwriting were the locations of all the items they needed. The mana dust seemed relatively easy. Apparently all they had to do was shake a Fae and collect it as it fell from their wings.

“Most of the list seems relatively simple. The three crystals I need can apparently be found in a cave behind the waterfall in the shopping district. I didn’t notice a waterfall when we were there, but I wasn’t exactly looking for one either. While we’re still in Donnalaich we should collect that mana dust stuff, it apparently falls off the wings of Fae... so as long as they’re friendly that shouldn’t be too hard. From there it looks like we’ll have to take a trip into the woods and to some ruins...”

Faelynn rolled up the pieces of parchment and placed them back within the safe confines of her bag. “Oh, by the by... I can’t keep having you running around calling me Reine, that’s just the name I use for thieving. My actual name is Faelynn.”

-------------------------------------

Morning came slowly the next day. The skies had not changed during the night and remained covered in a dense, grey soup that began to linger towards the ground. Fog rolled in from somewhere and settled within the forest and the city of Donnalaich, making it nearly impossible to see more than twenty feet in front of one’s nose. Faelynn sat on the ledge of a balcony looking out over the city. She couldn’t see the sun, but she was rather sure it had risen just a short while ago. Though she had slept well that night something had awakened her early in the morning and prevented her from slipping back into blissfulness. Jared still slept calmly in the next bed over, and not wanting to disturb him, Faelynn had retreated to the balcony. The thin undershirt she had worn to bed was now dotted with tiny beads of water, as was her skin. Her hair felt slightly damn and pleasurable shivers occasionally slithered up her back and down her arms and legs, an explosion of goose pimples which soon followed it.

The day was not overly cold, but the air felt cool with moisture and she was not wearing enough to be sitting out here for this long. But it felt so calming she couldn’t bring herself to move, even when the wood dug into her thighs in an uncomfortable way. She’d wait until Jared finally stirred. They had no deadline and she felt no rush, especially on a day like this that just made her want to curl up by a fire and forget about the world.

Jared had awoken after a couple more hours of rest. While he had tried to be one of the more productive members of the thief's guild, he had come to fast learn his body didn't care what he thought he could do at dawn, he wasn't getting up to do it. Even when he had others try and rouse them, he found that he continued to sleep blissfully, after assailing his would be alarm clock with a pillow about the head and shoulders.

After the second incident he just gave it up for a hopeless cause.

So when he awoke to find Reine, or Faelynn as she had told him to call her, sitting upon the balcony he almost did a double take. The girl was positively glowing that morning, and without her usual gear in the way, Jared got a rare look at her. He saw the side of Faelynn that he was more than certain she reserved for family.

Not that Jared blamed her, family was the last bastion against the cruel world. In a world where everyone wanted to be first, they would chew you up spit you out and charge you for luxury of having being used as their pawn. It was part of the reason he had decided to wholeheartedly become a thief, well that and the fact Darith had taken a keen interest in him.

Finally the magic of the moment was broken, as she seemed to glance at him, and immediately the shields were up. Jared's own came up as they prepared for the day, and promptly left the inn seeking the first object on their list, the crystals behind the waterfall.

~*~

"Well, that was disappointing," Jared quipped. He shook his head sending water flying about the area as he crawled out of the waters. A sigh escaped his lips before he grabbed an extra shirt and began drying to clear the excess water off, before he began dressing once more, "All those caves and not one had a damn shard of a crystal. Must have been picked clean a long time ago..."

"No worries..." Faelynn said, even as a slight frown pulled at the corners of her lips. It would have been far too simple if they'd found so many ingredients in one place. But, they were off to a good start. With her back still to Jared, to tossed two crystals at him, one black and one clear all the way through. "Catch."

Jared deftly caught the gems and carefully placed them within his pack, making sure to place them inside the now drying shirt at the top of his pack, so as to not crush them under some of his gear. Having pulled on his pants he finally said, "Alright I at least got pants on." Pulling on his shirt he made sure to cover up the nasty scar on his left forearm. He then began to arduous process of buttoning up before he finally pulled his boots on. Once again feeling somewhat clothed he looked about the caverns, “Still, not a bad place for a date eh?”

Faelynn sputtered and coughed. “A-a-a a date! How the hell did this become a date!?” The words echoed along the walls of the large, cavernous system. It bounced around the cavern, swallowed by the darkness and the roar of the rushing and crashing water a mere ten or twenty feet away from them.

They had not gone very far into the cave. Neither of them had a light and it took no more than ten feet into the space before the darkness swallowed what meagre light filtered through the thundering waterfall. Faelynn couldn’t exactly see how large this place was, she couldn’t see in the dark yet. But she got the feeling of it being monstrous. Just a space thing, when she closed her eyes, it felt like the room expanded around her into infinity. In all reality, she doubted it could be that big.

Jared let a soft snicker cross his lips before he shook his head, "What's the matter afraid of me or something? It was just a joke, no need to get flustered by it..."

Faelynn felt her face flush as she balled her hands at her sides and practically yelled, “I am not getting flustered! Besides, if this were a date I certainly would not be in some dank cave and I certainly would not be—wherever I would be—with you.”

"Someone's feisty this morning. And here I thought that we'd have a nice enjoyable day, get to know each other before the candlelit dinner. That is what you wanted right?" The smirk widened into a grin as Jared continued his teasing.

Faelynn stared at Jared in absolutely shock, or maybe horror. The look on her face was hard to identify between the two emotions. “What I... who said I wanted this? You think you’re Mr. Suave now and you can just wine and dine me and get into my shorts? Ugh! Well keep dreaming, Red, this girl is not that easy!”

Jared let out a derisive snort before he picked up his bag walking by the girl, "Alright, play hard to get, I hear that’s a great way to start a relationship."

Her jaw dropped. Just where the hell was all this coming from? He’s the one who’d followed her here, not the other way around. And there had definitely been no talk of dating, she would have remembered that. Sure, she’d flirted with him when he’d saved her life, but hell, after a few blows the head anything will look good enough to flirt with.

As he walked by her, Faelynn felt her anger reach the boiling point. With her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand, she pulled her arm back and let her fist fly. A jarring shock ran through her hand and arm as her fist connect with the side of his cheek. Pin exploded across her knuckles and fingers, but she was rather sure it hurt him much more than her. As he stumbled to the side, she reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders. Her finger dug into his skin as she shoved him back until he hit the rough, wet wall of the cave.

“All right, Cesarino, just what the hell are you trying to play at here?” She growled at him, her golden green eyes ablaze with fire.

The blow connected, and for a moment, he had almost pinned her against the wall. For one second Jared Cesarino had almost turned the tables on Faelynn, before he could realize what had happened. Had she known what she had done, perhaps she would have chosen her actions a bit differently. It wasn't that Jared was mad, it was just Kyo had shown him something he was partly embarrassed about in this matter.

He liked it when the girl got rough.

Sure, the punch was a bit over the top, but the shove into the wall, the yelling at him. It was a bit of a turn on for the thief. So, when she asked him what he wanted, for a brief moment his desire was left exposed, before it was tucked neatly behind the facade of the cool thief from Lavinya. Looking her in the eyes a brief glimmer of mischief was in them before he spoke, his tone holding a dryness that was unfitting the moist atmosphere of the cave, "Play? You make it sound like a bad thing. Am I missing something here?"

The glare he received in response showed him how much trouble he was in. Looking into those eyes he showed no fear, despite the pinpricks of pain assaulting his shoulders. He let that mischievous smirk light up his face again before he began, "Well, I know not to tease you too much anymore. That certainly takes the fun out of it, and here I thought I could push you a bit further."

Her eyes narrowed, and he spoke up before she could object, "Listen, when you saw me, I was in a bad mood, and I had an elder thief looking over my shoulder. If you honestly expect that to be who I am, you're crazy. I was more thrown off by the fact Hawk was there than anything. Couple in the fact I wasn't prepared to be dealing with a girl in even a semi-intimate matter, and you got what you saw in Radasanth."

He shrugged moving her hands from his shoulders. Checking them he shook his head slightly seeing no broken skin, yet. He then dusted his shoulders off before he continued, "So here I am, the sarcastic loud mouthed Lavinian Jared Cesarino. Just be glad I didn't decide to go with my first retort, and we'll call it even. I poke, I chide, I tease, that's who I am. I'm trying to move on, because you certainly didn't want a moping fool. I'm just trying to get a feel for where I stand with you, and now I know."

Faelynn took a step away from him. She felt embarrassed. She could feel the heat of it across her face, so she tried to hide it by looking at the floor. Her comfort zone felt ripped apart. Fae was not used to becoming embarrassed around others; she was used to embarrassing them. She was not used to her anger controlling her and causing her to do something so ungainly. It was not easy to rouse her anger, but she’d let Jared do it. She’d let him. She could have just ignored his taunting, even played along with it, but she hadn’t. Maybe it was this whole crazy situation. The original meeting in Radasanth, where he practically saved her butt and now here in this foreign place. Maybe she felt on edge. She kept reliving those moments when feet and fist had bombarded her body and she’d been so caught off guard she hadn’t been able to protect herself.

She felt exposed and weak. A thief she never feel either.

“I’m sorry... I lost my temper. I...”

Faelynn turned her back on Jared. She drew in a single deep breath and slowly let it out, allowing all her walls to slide back into place; one after another. One other crystal needed to be found before they could leave the cave. After that it might be a good idea to collect a few more things in town before heading out. She only needed to walk about five more feet into the cave before she found the second black crystal. It was only two inches long, but Lasair had not specified size, so she figured it didn’t matter.

Using the blunt end of her spear, Faelynn broke the crystal off then slipped Amalia back into the sheath on her back. Kneeling down, she scooped up the crystal. It felt cool in her hand, cool and comforting. Moving it around between her fingers, Faelynn turned back to Jared.

“All right, we’ve got all we need here. We should probably collect a few more things in the city before we head out into the forest.” She tossed the small item at him, before she went to walk by.

"Look, perhaps we both got off on the wrong foot this morning. Perhaps I should have been a bit lighter on the teasing, but don't think that this is your fault, it takes two to tango as my mother always said.”

She needed the apology in a way. It allowed the tension to ease out of her shoulders. “I thought we got off to a good foot, for a while there.” She gave him a lop-sided grin as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “But it seems like no matter what we do, we continue to dance around each other. Why can’t we just be ourselves?” She sighed, shaking her head and holding up her hand to cut him off. “No wait, you’re being yourself. I’m the one being defensive. I’m not used to someone knowing me as a thief and a person, as Reine and Faelynn. It’s... new for me.”

"I have problems too; I didn't expect to come back here. Look, I'll try not to step on your toes too much, and I'll try not to oust you for who you are. I can understand how awkward it is to live a dual life. Especially when I can't tell my parents, yet my sister knows."

“Heh, funny... I can’t tell my parents either, but my brother knows.” She smiled. If not for Ferynn, she might not have made it this far as a thief. “Anyway,” She looked Jared directly in his stormy grey eyes, and for the first time, initiated contact by reaching out and gently resting her hand on his shoulder. “I don’t want you worrying about stepping on my toes. Friends are supposed to step on each other’s toes, no? I just need to relax. You can try to lay off on the teasing though, next time I’ll pin you against the ground, not the wall.”

She gave him a genuine smile and then turned towards the mouth of the cave and the crashing water.

"If I had known I could have gotten that, I'd have paid the extra shot," The words hung in the air as he collected his satchel, slinging it over a shoulder. THe words echoed in the cavernous space, and he moved dutifully to follow Faelynn. He didn't even realized they had slipped out before she sresponded in kind;

Faelynn rolled her eyes "Consider your options closed, it's too late now, Cesarino."

"Hey, its not my fault, well technically it is, but its half my ex's, she's the one that found out I like it rough," His hands were brought up in a defensive gesture as he explained the situation a bit more. He was more than certain he had revealed too much information given their current relationship, or lack there of.

Faelynn raised a single brow. "Ky---that woman that Lasair mentioned, I take it is your ex? You know, if this journey was too hard on you, you could have opted not to come. The last thing I'd want to do is cause someone who saved my butt unnecessary pain, emotional or otherwise. Unless of course he deserves it.. or wants it, apparently."

She had almost said the name. Part of him winced in a knee jerk reaction, but it wasn't as strong as it used to be. That was reassuring to say the least. As they carefully made their way out from under the waterfall, Jared contemplated how to answer the question. He could lie, and possibly just anger the girl. It was obvious Jared had some kind of relationship with Tetsoma Kyosku.

It wasn't until they hit the humid air of the town that he realized just how comical the situation had grown to. Shaking his head Jared let out a laugh, "No, its alright, I needed to get over her anyways. At least thats what Hawk told me, and a few other things that I don't think merit repeating." He then gave Faelynn a wink, "But trust me, you don't want to go shoving me into things, or pinning me...I can't exactly guarantee you'll like the repercussions. Though, if I'm as good as Kyo made it sound, you just might..."

Faelynn's face flushed and she turned her head slightly to the side. "I'll keep that in mind. But I'm glad I didn't drag you here against your will... besides, it's never healthy to dwell on love since past."

Didn't he know it. "You almost sound like my first ex there...." He froze before a shadow crossed his face and he said, "Yeah, never mind that. I keep talking about my exes and I'm going to wind up sounding like more of a playboy than I am...no need to subject you to that. I'm sure Hawk gave you enough of that to last a lifetime..."

She laughed at the thought of Hawk. Despite his age, he was an attractive man and she rather liked him. But he was probably old enough to be her father. "It's probably because you just need to get some things off your chest. I don't mind. Especially considering I just punched you in the face. I'm sure hearing about your exes is the least I can do to make up for it."

"I don't think you want to hear about Kid, that is an earful you just don't need. Kyo though, I think I could talk about. But before I go about boring you, why don't we figure out how to ask a Fae for some Pixie Dust. Then, we can go about dredging up the past. Sound fair?"

She was a little curious to know just how many exes Jared had. It made it sound like he was hiding a whole closet full of them. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, but he was not playboy either and he seemed rather young. Just how many women had thrown themselves at him, or how many had he become attached to? From the sounds of it, this Kyosku had not exactly stuck around long enough to become attached to him, but he had certainly felt something for her.

Faelynn shook the thought aside. None of it was her business. If he wanted to talk about it, he could, but she needed to stop prying into his life like it was an interesting book. These were real feelings he had, real memories and real pain.

The path from the waterfall and the cave took them to the Marketplace, where the day before they had met Lasair and acquired their ingredients list. It looked even busier than it had yesterday. Groups of Fae and Draconian walked through, laughing, talking and mind their own business as they shopped. The clouds covered the sun and a haze and humidity had settled into the area and the clothes, but Faelynn didn’t mind too much. She still found this place incredible, with its ornate architecture and cute little lamps with glowing crystals that took the place of open flames. It was like a fantasy land, so different from the other areas of Althanas she had seen.

A group of Fae went to walk by Faelynn and Jared. Their tony little frames hid behind flowing dresses that shimmered even on this dreary day with tiny little inlaid crystals. They were beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, any word she could come up with to describe this group of women casually walking by her just didn’t seem to do them justice. Maybe she dwelt too much on their beauty, but it wasn’t just in their looks alone. T was in the way they carried themselves, so gracefully, they glided effortlessly along the stone ground as if they could float.

“Excuse me...” Faelynn ventured, taking a step towards the group.

They stopped, laying curious eyes upon her. She watched as the wings of one fluttered on her back, creating a blur of strange colour she bet was unbelievable in the sunlight.

“Umm, I was wondering if we could perhaps get some mana dust off you?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she could see the interest in their faces leave as well.

“W-we don’t need very much, just a little.” Faelynn said with a small smile.

It didn’t seem to matter though, without even saying a word to them they turned and walked deeper into the market, disappearing in a small crowd. Apparently Fae did not like parting with their Fae dust. Maybe Jared and her should lure one into an alleyway, tie it down, shake off as much dust as they needed and release it back into its natural inhabitant.

As tempting as that seemed, she doubted it would go over very well with the locals.

She sighed, glanced at Jared and then did the only thing they could do without getting arrested, nicely asking until someone actually let them. She was rejected another five times before she finally found two Fae that would even contemplate the idea. Oddly enough, it was an older couple that actually stopped and listened to Faelynn, at least the oldest looking Fae’s she’d ever seen before. She honestly contemplated the idea that Fae just didn’t age until she ran into them. But they had gentle lines along her faces, laugh lines as some people called them. Their skin did not glow like the other Fae, their wings seemed more translucent and fragile. In all honestly, they looked about the age of her parents.

“We just need it to synthesize a few items from the synthesis shop, and we can’t get it done without them.” Faelynn said to them, a little desperately. If someone didn’t help her soon, the alleyway was going to start looking a little too good.

“The Synthesis Shop? You mean the ol’ Anubail girls? Ha! They’re still doing that? I honestly thought they would give up after a few years, but I guess if they’re busy...” The man said, a soft smile crossing his face.

The woman smiled and gently laid her hand on what Faelynn assumed to be her husband’s arm. They certainly seemed like a couple. They exchanged a look and then the husband gently shrugged his slim shoulders.

“All right, we don’t see anything wrong with it.”

Faelynn practically jumped for joy. Slipped her rucksack off, she took out her coin purse and emptied the coin so she could use it as a pouch. She offered to help collect the dust, but the couple declined stating that it feels weird for another person to touch their wings. So they collected it for them, gently running their fingers along the fine skin of the wings and collecting the dust in the cup of their other hand.

“Thank you so very, very much!” Faelynn exclaimed as the woman handed her the bag full of Mana dust.

She laughed such a soft, beautiful laugh. “It was really no problem. Just be careful with that stuff, it’s potent, and those Anubail girls... let’s just say they’ve made some interesting things.”

With more thanks, the couple left and Faelynn turned back to Jared, who had been patiently waiting to the side. “Two down!”

Part of him wanted to help her, really he did. However he knew better than to ask for Fae dust. The main problems with such things were that the Fae didn't like parting with much. Especially when what they were to give up was something as personal as Fae dust. So, when Faelynn started getting upset over the lack of progress, he certainly couldn't blame her. Looking up at the sun, as it began to back the streets Jared took the time to wipe the sweat from his brow, watching his erstwhile companion.

Jared then began to think about what he wanted. Kid had been a lark; even she admitted she had slept with Jared just to get some help on learning the ropes. Not that he could blame her, Sarah Dahlios, her adoptive mother had been a famous thief. While whispers of Kid's love being more than platonic whispered about the guildhall, it was obvious the girl had not wanted to let her adoptive parent down either. It just angered Jared that he hadn't realized it when the relationship had begun. He had invested himself emotionally in Kid, and when she cut it off abruptly, he was left rather sore in the return.

Then there was Kyo.

He wasn't sure the ninja-ko had even meant to hurt him. Yet she was missing now anyways, and he definitely had been hurting. To the point he had even avoided Dheathain, and this land as well. Even now he could feel a bit of ache when he looked about, but he quickly shook his head and cleared it of the depressing thoughts. That was for when he drank the ale, not for when he was with a cute girl, in the maiden next door kind of way at least.

So, when she came bouncing up to him, holding the small sack of Fae Dust he raised an eyebrow and looked deeply into the eyes of the fellow thief. He had not even been paying attention to her before she was already talking of two of their required items being completed. Nodding slowly he finally managed in a voice unused, "That's great. I'm happy for you!"

A smile even lit up his face, and he was more than certain it held a bit of a roguish grin behind it.

Looking up at the sky he finally said, "So, should we grab something to eat? Or are we going to go exploring the jungles before we grab a bite? My treat?" He certainly was hungry, and if she wasn't sure of the fact, his rumbling stomach would certainly be a dead give away.

Her mind blanked when she saw his smile. In the days they had been travelling together, soending time together and yes fighting like cats and dogs she had never shown such a qenuine smile to her before. It reached his eyes and turned the tumultuous grey clouds a deep and lively silver colour. Wow, he looked good with a smile on his face.

“Um sure… yeah food, I mean, food would be great right about now.” She fumbled over the words as her mind tried to catch up with what he said to her. She gave her head a shake to recover her scattered thoughts. Keep it together girl, you’re the one in charge, remember?

“The Inn we’re staying at is supposed to serve good food and we get a discount for renting our rooms there, so lets go!”

She grabbed his hand and quickly led him through the crowd with a speed and agility that someone of her stature and size acquired from a young age. Jared did a good job of keep up, until she attempted to pull him through spaces in the crowd way too slim for him to fit. Then he ended up barrelling into a few Fae, who apparently did not take well to being run over. After much apologizing, the two thieves walked back to the Inn at a more sedate pace. The clouds had thinned and the sun began to peek through on them, burning away the fog.

Inside stone building, Faelynn walked to the large dining room set with huge wooden benches and a few smaller tables surrounded by chairs. Being so close to mid day, the place had a large number of customers already in it and the smell of food and spices she’d never smelled before assaulted her senses. Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled.

Seeing an empty table, she moved towards it but was intercepted by the Inn’s proprietor.

“Miss Thiadore?”

She hesitated, “Uh…yeah?”

“An urgent message has come for you from Corone.” The gorgeous fae with his long flowing robes held out a piece of paper bearing the seal of her family between his long and thin fingers.

Perplexed, she took the message from him, wondering how anyone could have even tracked them down to Donnalaich and this particular Inn. Then again, there couldn’t be too many humans staying in the city. In fact, she hadn’t seen another human since leaving Talmhaide. The proprietor inclined his head and left her. Turning the letter over in her hands, she wondered exactly what could be so urgent that her parents would send for her in Dheathain. She had told them where she was going of course, but they seemed cool with it.

“Who’s it from?” The voice of Jared broke through her musings.

“Seems to be from my family, either my parents or brother. Maybe Ferynn wants me to pick him up some mystical, magical ingredients for him to experiment with.” She joked, but deep in her stomach a weight had settled.

Tearing through the seal, Fae quickly read the contents of the message containing no more than a few lines.

Her face paled. The sinking feeling on her stomach grew until she thought she would throw up. As she read the words over and over again she could see them blurring and before her eyes. Her head swimming and the world spinning. The letter slipped from her fingers, falling on the ground face up.



Faelynn,

Your brother has been seriously injured in an accident at the forge. He and Connaire were attempting some new kind of enchantment technique when it went horribly wrong and the magic back fired on them. Connaire received some minor injuries, but Ferynn. It’s not good. Please come home. Please. He needs you. I hope this letter finds you before it is too late.

Mom

Jared watched her read the letter, his eyes growing more and more concerned as he saw the reaction on her face. He was tempted to reach out and touch her, but seeing as he only just now had gotten back on her good side the Lavinian was loathe to do anything stupid. Moving next to her he reached down and picked up the letter before he carefully put a hand on her shoulder, “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The damn burst and Jared, who had seen similar things, was not surprised when she tensed up. It was the act of someone trying to keep it in before she slumped and the tears began. Carefully he hugged her, just giving her a shoulder to cry on as he gently ran his hand up and down her back. He carefully maneuvered them to near the table as the Fae watched a look of worry on her exotic face. Jared merely looked at the Fae a second to motion her away as he gently turned to the comforting big brother he had always been, “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Faelynn replied between grief stricken sobs. Jared hadn’t even looked at the note and already he could tell it was pretty bad. This girl was usually upbeat and happy and whatever it took to drop her mood like a stone in the river it had to have been something terrible. Carefully he looked over the note before he stiffened and understood. Placing the paper on the table he noticed the room tried its best to ignore the two humans in their midst. Draconians gave them the once over before muttering rude phrases in their tongue. Fae were the more empathetic perhaps due to their much more magical nature, merely shaking their heads somberly before attempting to achieve the cheer they once had.

Family.

Had Jared gotten a note like that he wasn’t sure what he would have done. He was always a family first kind of man, and now he could see Faelynn or Reine, or whatever her name was, was much the same. He just continued to stroke her back before he whispered softly, “Do you want to go now or in the morning?”

She looked up at him with tear streaked eyes before she managed in some semblance of her former self, “What about you? What about the items you’re trying to make?”

“It was on a whim more than anything. Getting you back home seems the more important task. At the least I can see you off and decide then if I want to go through the swamps to get the last few items for it,” Jared replied his tone soft. He could see something blooming behind her eyes and merely waited patiently for her response. Before she could open her mouth he said softly, “I’m probably going to head home in all honesty. I don’t have much keeping me wandering the world and well this was kind of a spur of the moment thing. If you ever reach Lavinya look me up, shouldn’t be too hard if you ask at the Drunken Rat tavern. Tell the barkeep that Firebrand said it was okay…””

He gave her a reassuring smile even as he hoped his cheering up would work.

“Right… yeah sure, Drinking Rats, I got it.”

Honestly she wasn’t listening to him at all. Her mind was racing around at a million miles an hour but all she could think about was Ferynn and whether or not he still lived. She loved her brother. Maybe even loved him more than her parents. He had been the family favourite and the only time her parents paid much attention to her was when she’d done something wrong; or a potential suitor had come knocking on the front door. Thankfully she’d never been enough of a lady for the upper class men that came snooping around.

Ferynn…don’t you dare leave me. Don’t you dare! I’m coming home to you, I swear it!

“I’ll leave today.” She said more to herself than Jared.

Grabbing the letter from the table, she carefully folded it and placed it within her pack. It would take her a week to Travel from Dheathain to Corone and before that she needed to get from Donnalaich to Talmhaide. No easy feat in a short amount of time. Dheathain was a huge country and most of it was covered in swamps, tropical rain forests or endless grasslands. The cities were spaced out far and few between.

Still, with a country this steeped in magic, they must have some way to get around quickly!

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Three hours later Faelynn found herself back in the port city of Talmhaide. How did she get there so fast, you ask? Easy, she rode a dragon. Yeah, that’s right, a freaking dragon! Apparently they used the monstrous beasts as quick ferries between cities for emergencies, sight seeing and even military training exercises. Any other time and she would have been amazed at riding such a creature, but her heart and mind were elsewhere. She didn’t even take in much of scenery as it went flashing by below her at a dizzying speed. She didn’t even pay enough attention to get motion sickness.

Jumping off the back of the dragon, quickly followed by Jared, Faelynn rushed through the streets as fast as her legs could take her. With her increased speed, that appeared to be faster than Jared could keep up with her and she soon lost him in the crowd. Not that it would be any surprise to her thieving companion that she headed for the docks.

She didn’t slow until the cobbled and dirt streets disappeared into a vast blueness that stretched out farther than her eyes could see. Until the smell of salt and the cries of sea gulls assaulted her senses, and the shouts of men at work came from every direction. Skidding to a hault, she assessed the five ships currently docked in the harbour, scanning their hulls for a name and their decks to see which had the most masts and would take the shortest amount of time to get her home.

The first she chose was bound for Raiaera instead, but the second was going to Radasanth. Just as she paid the man for her passage, Jared caught up to her.

She wanted to say something cool and noteworthy, but nothing came to mind.

“I guess this is where we say goodbye.” She felt awkward and kind of exposed in front of him right now. She’d burst into tears and he’d held her in his arms like any close friend would. Only he wasn’t a close friend. Before it could get any stranger, she looked away and turned to go, then changed her mind and grabbed a hold of him in a tight hug.

“Thanks for coming with me. I don’t regret it.”

At least for now she didn’t. If Ferynn died, maybe then she would.




(No spoils for me. This was obviously an old quest from years ago that we threw a quick ending together for, to explain her [my] absence.)

Just like that she was gone, her ship already hoisting anchor. He watched it leave the port even as others moved about the area with the bored monotony of their daily lives. Jared had often longed for such things, simply because boring meant he wasn’t thrust into some new adventure. His stormy grey eyes followed the ship until it left the bay and then he turned looking back at the people about him. With a derisive snort he shook his head, he hated this place and the only interesting thing in it was gone now. Looking at the items for his bag of dust he carefully put them aside and hoped they didn’t have an expiration date.

He shook his head before he said softly, “Well then with that distraction gone, I guess its time to go home. Owe it to Hawk not to get him in trouble at the least.”

Home, that was an odd concept for the thief. He had not thought of home beyond his sister in a while, and yet when he thought of going there all he could feel was a muted sadness. At first he thought it was his, but the more he thought about it, the more it felt unnatural, wrong. With a sigh he pinched the bridge of his nose before he muttered under his breath, “Oh gods be damned Seth, stop leaking your emotions into me…”

The spot he reserved for the thief’s thoughts let out a mental probe he knew to be the man’s sigh before he spoke, I have no control over what my memories do to you boy. Stop pretending like I’m gleefully dumping my emotional load into you to relieve the pressure.

“Then why do you hate Lavinya?”

More silence before Seth spoke, Would you like to return to the place of your greatest mistake? Jared’s eyes widened with the epiphany as he looked about Dheathain. Seth realizing the connection finally became more verbose, almost candid with the younger thief, [/i]That’s right. Just like you and Kyo have here, I made a terrible mistake there. To see my old friends and to see the place I ruined my family hurts more than you know Firebrand. Not that I am dissuading you from going, you need to at this point. I’m just saying don’t be so surprised at my reluctance to go there.[/i]

Jared nodded thoughtfully before he moved up to the line to leave. Reaching the top he looked the man in the eye before he spoke calmly, “One for Otaria Port.”

“Why would anyone want to go to that shithole?” The man said even as he shook his head and grabbed a book. Opening it before him he spoke, “Write yer name down, that’ll be fifty gold for room and board.”

“I grew up in Lavinya, and theres only one way home…” Jared offered. The man looked him over before he snorted.

“I see why ye left, no meat on your bones nothing to make you tough enough for the place,” The man’s words stung his pride. Jared merely gave a knowing smile as he wrote his name down and spoke one last bit to him,

“Thieves get homesick too you know…” He then gave the man a wink as human’s face went pale at the words. A chuckle escaped Jared’s mouth as he shouldered his pack higher and moved to the ship that would be taken him home. A knowing smile left his lips as he saw the ship’s name and knew its history. Shaking his head he laughed as he said to Seth, “Well then, looks like you have more to think about…”

A grumble left Seth’s corner of his mind as Jared Cesarino climbed aboard the Lavinian Pride.

Thread Title: Chase The Rain
Judgement Type: Light Commentary
Participants: Reine, Lavinian Ambition

Plot ~ 21/30

Story ~ 6/10 – I appreciated the narrative, the setting, and the emotion woven together for plot. The detractor was, by your own admission, the rushed ending due to the length of time that transpired between starting, and finishing the thread. Had you developed the outro more, I daresay the natural progression would have lifted scores to 7+ easily.

Setting ~ 8/10 – Strong, in depth descriptions, from the get go. Whilst some consider this level of detail purple prose, here, it accentuates the context of the thread, and the personalities of your characters.

Pacing ~ 7/10 – No pacing issues, but be wary of erratic tempo changes between dialogue, narrative, and action.

Character ~ 16/30

Communication ~ 5/10 – Dialogue was appropriate, but neither possessed any identity in speech. You both sounded like high school kids talking in the courtyard, not lavinian kings and Dheathain adventurers. Whilst highborn noble tongues and quick wits are not required, consider techniques to portray personality and emotion through your character’s speech, and not just what they say, but how they say it.

Action ~ 5/10 – The strongest aspect of action is making it seem seamless, effortless, and not forced. Jared and Faelynn’s trip to the docks was dynamic, alive, and believable, and ‘action’ despite there being no ‘combat’ and death and destruction. Outside of this, there was little in the thread to resemble motion, events unfolding, and so forth.

Persona ~ 6/10 – Where you faltered with dialogue, you made up with emotion outside of speech. You naturally worked well together, and used comfort, action, and body language to give your characters, and their backgrounds life. Consider how to develop that personal identity, and you will continue to play off one another without really trying. Good effort.

Prose ~ 20/30

Mechanics ~ 5/10 – Generally consistent level of grammatical and mechanical precision, let down by dialogue formatting errors and sporadic clumsy comma use. Whilst the latter is difficult to master, the former is addressable– if the part preceding dialogue is relational, such as she said, or he said, then comma and small case letter. If there is an exclamation mark or a question mark, the same applies – small case, because the exclamation is as a comma. ‘Damn’ appears instead of dam in post 22, to highlight a singular place where proof reading could have heightened your score.

Clarity~ 8/10 – Strong, flowing, easily read text throughout, and little lost in translation between writers. You have a strong, consistent ability to not lose pace or focus between posts.

Technique ~ 7/10 – Asides mechanical issues, you used strong literary techniques and consistent stylistic choices to bolster your writing. Technically competent the both of you, I would not worry about improving here until the other highlighted issues can be addressed, as you have little to add to a strong repertoire.

Wildcard: 5/10 – I sorely wished for a more developed outro, and I hope to read more of what I assume to be a budding romance, or compelling ‘so near to going out’ sisterhood!

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I would be happy to develop on the points above, or provide more in depth examples based on those notes if requested. cydneyoliver@gmail.com, or my Mordelain inbox are both appropriate avenues to do.

If you have any concerns, doubts, and worries, and don’t wish to speak to me directly for whatever reason, then I am sure another member of staff will resolve the matter on your behalf. I am perfectly amenable and open to feedback, as the judge has to develop, as much as the writer put under the scrutiny of the rubric!

Total ~ 63/100

Quote:

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Lavinian Ambition receives 1635 experience and 200 gold.

Reine receives 1260 experience and 200 gold.

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Experience and gold added.