[Flashback] Tattle-tale [Ronar]

by **Kat** on June 21st, 2012, 3:21 am

3rd Day of Spring, 510AV

It was the third day her father had allowed her to wander the fort of Syliras on her own, in one hand she held a map that she never bothered to look at while her other touched everything that was within reaching distance. But even for all her wonder she never truly left the bazaar for although she had a map she assumed she would get lost, not to mention her father had forgotten the fact that she could not read a map nor understand it.

The whole city seemed to smell of dirty people mixed with a variety of spices and things she could not name, meats and sweets of all kinds maybe. Whichever it was it made her mouth water and her nose crinkle, the smell of the city she could do without but the smell of food was always welcome and not having to actually hunt for it was a bonus.

A little one-track minded Kat allowed herself to be led by her hunger, not truly interested in the little trinkets people sold or their clothing, hers was itchy enough as it was and she had no desire to buy more. Trying to keep up with the general flow of people she continued her trek, no longer touching anything but trying to hurry to the source that made her stomach rumble pleasantly.

Upon finding the source of the food Kat stared at the small pastries and fruits all sweetened and coated with sugars. It was a child’s delight and hers. Checking each she sniffed around the food delicately, bumping the other children who greedily grabbed at the treats. Finally deciding on one she plucked it up as the others had and took a tiny bite, quickly she set it down and grabbed at another. She did this with several of the snacks before finally walking away from the stand, the surprise and raised voices becoming background noise that she paid no heed too.

by **Ronar Bolbek** on June 21st, 2012, 4:03 pm

Sick to the teeth of his life at the moment, Ronar had decided to take a walk around the Bazaar in Syliras. He had been told, yet again, that he was 'Dishonourable and devious' by a high ranking member of the guard. All he wanted was to train as a Squire and eventually fight in the guard. But no, apparently Ronar was not guard material. It wasn't fair, all through his life he had been subdued and told he was nothing and would amount to nothing. All he needed was to impress the guards, take the security of a citizen in to his own care, then they would surely have to let him train and fight! All he needed now was a citizen in need that he could help.

He had wandered around the bazaar, looking for something to do, anything. He was bored out of his senses these days with nothing to do at home but pointless tasks set to keep him busy, such as cleaning an already clean surface. Being at home was only going to cause hassle and Ronar could tell by the way his family looked at him and treat him that they felt ashamed.

Well this day he would change things. Today he would stop a crime and head on his way towards becoming a guard. The bazaar had to be rife with petty crime. There were a large amount of goods piled around the place, so thieves must see this as easy pickings. Looking around for a vantage point, Ronar noticed a peculiar young girl milling through the stalls. She looked to be a stranger to life in Syliras as she paid no notice to the general ways of doing things. The crowds were usually very purposeful and people walked with direction. The bazaar was nothing spectacular to the people of Syliras, but this girl seemed fascinated by everything.

A small while later, she reached a stall filled with various confectioneries and sweet fruits. The stall was a well known attraction to the children, as they all enjoyed sinking their teeth into the foods there. Ronar watched as the girl looked around, then to his surprise, picked up an item and started nibbling on it. No money had exchanged hands, so as far as the law was concerned this was theft! Yet she carried on nibbling on a few other of the items on the stall. The merchant behind the counter looked on in confusion, waiting to be paid, wondering why the girl put the food back when she had eaten a little of it.

A few seconds later, around four people started to shout, and the merchant at the stall came around to the front waving his arms around in annoyance. The girl had only gone and walked off. This was it. This was Ronar's first shot at getting noticed by the guards for being a good person. Thinking like a guard would, Ronar tried to blend in while following the girl. He would confront her when she came to a halt somewhere, but did not want to alert her as she may turn violent or run. In his attempt to blend in, Ronar put his head down and walked with a purpose, as most of the people in the bazaar were doing themselves. He pretended that he was ignoring the goings on around him, but remembered to keep an eye on the target.

She walked along, in her own little world. Ronar made a note that if she were to slow down he must also slow down. If she got out of his line of sight, he must speed up. Finally, if she were to turn around, Ronar must make himself hidden, or otherwise busy.

by **Kat** on June 21st, 2012, 7:08 pm

For the first few chimes she was not aware of it. There were many people and she was often given strange looks due to her unseemly growth and clothing choices. But this was different, it was the feeling one got as they stalked, as she stalked prey only to find a larger predator had beat her to the kill. It sent odd chills down her spine, her eyes now narrowing on faces carefully, it made her back straighten and her mind defensive. It was the feeling of being hunted and she never had enjoyed being on the receiving end.

But it was impossible to tell who it was, there were too many people and too many scents and her human form was much too dull to properly figure out where the follower was. Or perhaps she was only being paranoid. No human would be able to escape if she chose to snack on them for lunch instead; she would hunt them until they were no longer a problem. Survival of the fittest and such or at least that’s what her father kept saying. Told her it was a horribly mentality to have, whatever her meant by that.

Kat decided swiftly either way it did not matter she would ferret out her uncertainties or she would find the stalker. Only two choices and simply running would give her the answer. A slight smile appearing on her face she almost hope someone would chase her. Tucking her treat carefully in her pocket she stopped in the crowd for only a moment, turning full circle with her eyes closed and picking a direction. As her eyes opened she raced through the crowd, trying to keep to the sides and out of the way of both the guard and the people. What a fun game of tag this could turn out to be!

Still she was not one for running long and very soon her legs burned and her lungs seemed to forget how to breathe, her nose tingling as if she had inhaled smoke from a hearth. Hands on her knees she bent breathlessly and leaned against wall, waiting for her pursuer to catch up or her imagination to stop running wild.

by **Ronar Bolbek** on June 22nd, 2012, 11:40 am

Either the girl had seen him, or she had sensed something was wrong. Either way, she was running. Ronar had spent many days just wandering in Syliras, so knew the streets reasonably well. With this knowledge, he hedged a bet that the girl was headed out of the bazaar and most likely to go and hide in another district.

She dodged and weaved through the crowds and it took a few seconds before Ronar would react. Looking about him, he saw the stalls and the people sprawled through the bazaar. If he could judge things correctly, he would be able to take a shortcut then cut the girl off at a certain point. Ronar slipped behind a stall as casually as he could, much to the confusion of the stall vendor. He then set off at a steady jog as he was behind the stalls and out of the general people's line of sight. When it came to coming back out into the public, Ronar slowed down to a walk, and again, casually slipped past the stall into the main street.

He tried to get a visual on the target, which took him longer than he had expected. he followed the line of people walking past with his eye, all the way up to another turning in the line of stalls. There, near the top was the girl, still running, though now at a slower pace.

If I'm quick, I can catch her here.

Ronar looked for guards, but saw only two, and they were well behind him. He joined the milling crowd again before bursting out the side of their line in a sprint. He would catch the girl in a matter of seconds at this speed. Catching Ronar unawares, a merchant stepped out from the stall carrying a basket full of produce. Swerving to the side, he knocked over a small child, who fell to the floor crying. The mother stood at the side of the child began shouting obscenities through the street.

Ignoring the woman and small child, Ronar rounded the corner of the stalls. There, leaning against a wall, was the girl. He slowed down to a walk, then smartened himself up a little.

No upholder of the law should look like a scruff.

He approached the girl from behind, then placed his hand on her right shoulder, spinning her around to face him. He knew of a alleyway that led to nowhere in particular, and it was just up this path a little. They had come away from the bazaar a little, but had not quite entered the next district.

"I think me and you need a word little girl. You can either come along nicely or I'll go fetch the guards. Your choice."

He left the threat there then tried to drag her off the wall and frogmarch her toward said alleyway.

by **Kat** on June 27th, 2012, 6:29 pm

OOC :

Her fun died rapidly as the hand touched her, she had been correct on her instinct and had been followed but the person who followed her was apparently not fond of tag. There was a thread in his words, in his stance and most importantly in his eye, they blazed with something that triggered a response from her and she tensed. His entire body language shouted to her he was troublesome but he couldn’t be an actual match for her and although his tone was sharp she had no idea what he was talking about. Shaking herself free of his hand and nodding agreeably she slipped around him and into alleyway.

There was no fear in her actions though she was still quite tense, she had no desire to be attacked by this boy but he showed every desire to do so. Although if it did come to fighting she wondered if he would win, he seemed to be a bit bigger than her and it made her nervous. Keeping an eye on him she reached into her pocket for what was left of her now smashed treat, her thoughts running away from her current predicament and more toward how yummy the cake was. Polishing off what was left she smiled lightly and began to clean her herself, completely ignoring the boy.

It was his heavy breathing matching her own from the previous run that brought her attention back, she stared at him blankly for a few second and continued to like her fingers and wrist clean. He had brought Kat there so what did he want? Deciding she didn’t care other than to have a few simple questions answered Kat carefully tried to edge around the other as she spoke. “What are guards? Are you one?”

by **Ronar Bolbek** on July 6th, 2012, 11:32 am

Ronar could not help looking at her in disbelief.

"Are you honestly this stupid? Or are you just messing me about?"

Ronar shook his head and looked around for a guard to point out to her, alas he found none.

"You know what a guard is! Shiny armour, strong men, long swords. The guards here are the best, bravest men in the whole world. And soon, I'm going to be one of them!"

He knew he had exaggerated a little bit, but he needed to scare this girl into doing as she was told. He tried to push out his chest and widen his shoulders to make her think he was bigger than he actually was, but it looked like anything more than simplicity was lost on her.

"Look, I'll make this simple. You go and apologise to the man who's stall you stole from, and I won't report you."

That said, Ronar noticed the treat she held in her hand. His stomach began to rumble slightly. He had not eaten properly since the morning, and he had been wandering around Syliras for hours. He was becoming more hungry even thinking about the food.

"Or, you can give me that there treat. It's allowed because I'm going to become a knight! So give me that and I won't tell."

Ronar hoped the girl was as slow as she was making out or she would realise that he was blackmailing her.