[Flashback]A single rose can be my garden (Marin, Canrehne)

[Nai'shee]

Timestamp: 36th of Summer, 499AV A child sat at the end of the dock, trowing little stones into the water. She was poorly clothed and traces of non-expensive living were visible on her anyways. She was four, turning five soon. She was looking down at the water, considering jump. She never jumped from the docks. She was already a good swimmer, but she was afraid. Bunch of little fishes constantly swam bellow her, running from her stones. She didn't want to scare them away, so she stopped her little game soon enough and began watching them. "Hey, kid, what are you doing there?", somebody spoke to her. She didn't even turn to see who was it. It was old, male voice. "Nothing." "Come on, don't sit on the edge like that, you might fall into water and h-" "I can swim, so don't worry." "But what if something attacks you?" "I don't care." "You might die..." "I'm happy", she replied, smiling. She considered it worth dying for that jump to come true one day. She still didn't develop common sense, obviously. Death wasn't an end to a four year old. "Do as you wish, I warned you", with that he walked away. He didn't care to take child to safety or warn it's parents. She didn't care either. She concentrated on the water again. Shoals of fish endlessly went around and around. They were so... free. Nai'shee envied them. And that's why she's going to jump into that water one day. But not now. It was too scary. Maybe when she turns five, maybe she'll be big enough.

[Marin]

Marin had always loved exploring. His father would always tell him that he was an adventurer from birth. He would explore the house, the street that he lived on, and even venture as far the beginning of the forest or the docks. His father would come with him on those adventures. His father had said that it was dangerous to go that far without someone else. And Marin’s father knew this city well, for he was a teacher. He taught Marin how to recognize plants, and trees. He taught Marin how to recognize animals. Today Marin was exploring with his father. His father had wanted to go to the docks to explore some himself, and had brought Marin with him. Marin hated the loudness of the docks. There were always huge amounts of people, working on boats, yelling across the streets. Marin hated the noise. He did like the water though. He always came and sat near the water. There would be fish! His father would always test him on the types of fish he saw. But not today. Marin’s father and he neared the port. On one of the most quiet docks sat a single tiny girl. She look enamored by the water below, just as Marin always was. Then, Marin’s father said: "Hey, kid, what are you doing there?" She didn't even turn to see who was it. "Nothing." "Come on, don't sit on the edge like that, you might fall into water and h-" "I can swim, so don't worry." "But what if something attacks you?" "I don't care." "You might die..." "I'm happy", she replied, smiling. “Don’t sit so close”, he said to Marin. “Its dangerous. Sit how I have always told you to sit here. I will be back later, so don’t get lost.” Marin nodded. Before he left he said to the girl, "Do as you wish, I warned you.” Marin almost instantly forgot that his father was there, and sat down next to the girl on the dock. “Hi.” he said with a quiet, shy voice.

[Nai'shee]

Nai'shee, who was watching the water, didn't even notice the boy. When he greeted her she jumped up and almost fell as his father said. She wanted to make fun of him for the fact she actually didn't, but she had more important business now. "Oh, hello there!", she yelled out into the boy's face. "Who are you?" He was by far better clothed than Nai'shee. And he was older. Did he think that he was a big boy? That he could mess with little girl on the dock? She calmed herself down, realizing it was just paranoia. "Are you Zeltivan?", she added.

[Marin]

As Marin spoke he watcher her. She seemed to like it here, watching the fish, watching the world pass her by. She was dressed in ragged clothes, almost as if she was part of the street, being blown from place to place. Suddenly she jumped up and almost fell into the water. "Oh, hello there!" she yelled. "Who are you?" She was inches from Marin's face, her dusty skin matching the color of the dock. "I'm Marin. And yes, Zeltivan. Both my father and mother... well... My father is..." Marin trailed off, looking down. Tears tried to form in his eyes. They always did when he thought of his mother. I must not! Not in front of a little girl! Marin looked up again, trying to fight off the tears.

[Nai'shee]

She looked at him, as if she examined him. What did it matter if his parents were from here? "My name is Nai'shee", she said, standing up. "I'm Zeltivan by choice!", she said proudly. It was a lie, of course, Lhex's courses brought her there and little urchin really had not possibilities of leaving, but she imagined that she could have ended up somewhere else, instead of being brought here. Foolish as she was, she would may leave if she didn't like it here. Luckily, she did, so all creatures she heard about may stay hungry.

"Wanna go do something? Staring in the water is useless..." She stated that as if she wasn't doing exactly the same a moment ago. She stood above him, waiting for the boy to follow. She liked the feeling of commanding older kids and she wondered if she can get away with it with this boy too.

[Marin]

Did I want to do something? Can we not just watch the ships? You were just doing that! "Ok." Marin watched as she stood up, her voice was so commanding for such a young girl. Zeltevian by choice? What does that mean? "Waddya wanna do?" Marin hoped she would like to go adventuring, for that was how he spent most of his time, exploring the local world. Maybe she will know of a secret hiding place! Or a magical forest! Marin's face lit up as he thought this, now intently staring at Nai'shee waiting for her next move.

[Nai'shee]

"I don't know, something fun! I rarely go to the river, we can explore surroundings or just go swimming. Or we can go into the city and play in some abandoned building. I bet you don't know all the hideouts on the west side! Or we can sneak into University, I know the way. But no, people will notice us during day and then they'll secure it. Cross that option!"

Little urchin was babbling in excitement. She didn't realize how desperately she wanted a friend, so she just thought of commanding the boy to follow her, afraid that he might leave otherwise. She wasn't aware how she felt, so she just continued to list things they could do, already running from the dock, since they most certainly won't stay there. Fisherman and sailors she passed by were probably looking at little urchin yelling out at the boy with her.

OOCFeel free to say Nai suggested something else, as well, you don't have to pick from those options.

[Marin]

“How... Lets explore... all of them!” Marin looked at her, wondering how she got her daring. Marin always loved exploring, but always did it in a controlled fashion. He had never broken into the university! He had never explored a run down building! And what about the secret places on the west side? Marin was excited beyond his wildest dreams! “How... How do you know about all of these things?” Marin was astonished at the young girl in front of him. How does she know so much? She must want to explore things when she grows up... That explains the dirt on her clothes! She must be practicing! Marin thought some more. What about laws though... What would my father say if I was caught in the university!? He would be furious! I can't do all of this... But it must be so fun...

[Nai'shee]

"Hmmm... follow me!" She started running, looking over her shoulder for the boy. If he was to ask his father for permission she would wait for him a bit further. She was running pretty quickly for her age, but since she wasn't using Flux the boy would be able to catch up. She didn't even realize how much she was doing things for a show-off in past few minutes. But she was aware of her limits, so she decided not to waste energy.

She run trough The West Street, taking an apple from the stand she passed by while the keeper was negotiating with somebody. He muttered something, obviously not realizing who took the fruit because of the crowd on the streets.

When she finally was at the location she wanted to show Marin, she stopped, trying to normalize her breath. "Want some?", she asked the boy, not even bothering with the fact the fruit was stolen. She knew she was gonna be hungry after the day they planned, so she wanted to eat at least half of an apple.

After the fruit was eaten, she would point at the building with her arm, as if it wasn't already obvious it was here. It was an old an big house. It might have belonged to a royal family, or it was some kind of clinic. However, it was now abandoned. You could see bare bricks in the wall here and there, supposedly white wall was in gray and brown shades and plants around the house were far worse than the forest. At least worse than the forest road. She knew it like her own pocket. Sometimes she even slept in there. Guards usually didn't even check it. They might checked it just once since she started wandering around the streets (when she started to walk, that is) and it was probably a request from somebody.