PM to join It All Ends The Same

[Elias Caldera]

50th Day of Spring
514 AV

Terror. It was not an unfamiliar feeling for Alia. She had felt it's crushing grip on the day they had come for her, then again when she met her master for the first time. The woman had whispered sweet words even as she cut and burned her latest acquisition. That's all the girl had been to them, a thing to be bought and sold and used. For three long years, that's was exactly what she had resigned herself to be. Property, not a person, never a person. The day her mistress had burned the brand into Alia's back was the day the kelvic had died.

Coming back to life then, had proven an understandable shock. One she was still trying to comprehend, even as she now ran. It had taken what felt like bells before her legs would work again, and even longer for her hands to stop trembling. The memory of it still sent violent shivers down her spine. She had simply stood there as the men first accosted her mistress. Their sharpened blades gleaming in the candle light. Her first and only reaction had been to defend her master, to do everything she could to see the woman safe and satisfied, just as always. But as they plunged their knives into the Ravokian witch, Alia felt something wash over her that was both so terrible and wonderful at the same moment it had left her blind and deaf to the world around her, like a newborn babe seeing the light of day for the first time. She was free, the kelvic had finally understood when the confusion and tears faded away, she was finally free.

So she ran.

In her stupor night had turned to day and she had forgotten to take all of the meager belongings she had managed to collect over the arduous seasons, but she did not stop, nor did she look back. Alia simply ran. Her heart beating madly, her mind a buzz with all the possibilities and all the hope that now laid stretched out before her. It terrified her. Fear coursed through her veins as hotly as the blood did, but terror and her were old friends and it would not stand in her way again. She just needed to get out of the city. Her paws carried her as fast as they could as her whirring thoughts fought to take shape and make sense. A boat would get her out of the city! She just needed a boat, and a way to solve the maze of canals and bridges that was Ravok, her prison. After that, she would be back in the wilds where she belonged.

There She could start a new, as a person and never again as property. Never again a slave.


-----


Elias hefted the bag again, his grip slipping as he struggled to cling to it. He looked down at the list in his free hand, clumsily holding unto the things he had just bought. The novice mage mentally crossed off the paper, the inks, the quills and the brushes, then frowned as he moved on to the next assortment of goods he had written down. He imagined he would have to visit Thorin at the man's forge for any kind of steel that was worth the scrap used to make it. As for new clothes, he had no idea where to start with that. The... noble's district maybe? He definitely needed something new. Every once in a while he would get a whiff of his own stink, only to realize he smelled more foully of ash than anything else. The sooth stains he was often falling victim to were growing ridiculously burdensome to clean as well. Maybe leather would stand up better?... or maybe it'll just cook me faster.

He sighed. The idea that he wasn't nearly as done as he had hoped was draining on him. Shopping was never any fun, and it didn't help that with each Miza that fell or was snatched from his grasp, he felt a little bit of his soul die. As unsettling as it was, it needed to be done. He had held it off for too long. He would have to-

Elias suddenly cursed as something burst out from around the corner and ran underfoot in an orange blur of frantic movement. It darted between his legs before he could even jump out of the way. He turned to watch it go, the feel of his bushy tale still tingling across his leg. It dashed left and right amidst the row of shops, almost as if it were confused or lost and looking for something. Is that a fox? Was all he was able to muster before a huge weight collided with him from behind, nearly sending him tumbling over unto his face. Elias cursed again, but this time it was was echoed in the man who had just run into him. The disheveled bastard growled at the mage as he stumbled to keep his feet. When he did, Elias found himself being shoved aside as another two men came running past. One carried a long pole with a leash tethered to the end. The other, straps and chains.

The temptation to throw a fist had crossed his mind a time a two as each man pushed him aside to get by. The road they were on was thin, more comfortably accessed by the canal that ran alongside it than the wooden planks that made up the boardwalk. Because of that, nearly all of them had gone sliding into the water with the reckless speed they were going. Instead of getting himself into a brawl however, Elias decided a few rude gestures at there backs would suffice as he went about picking up the spilled contents of his bag. "Bastards." he mumbled, even as the voice in the back of his head reminded him just how many time he could have avoided trouble in the past if he had just kept his mouth shut and made his business his own.

He opted to listen to that voice today, but even as he crouched there, looking on in curiosity, he could see trouble was already brewing, it didn't seem to matter whether he was in the middle of it or not.

[Redd]

x

Redd had been starting to get restless, she felt it the moment Vayl had walked right out of the door, leaving her behind for what ever reason. She wanted to be out there beside him in case something happened so she could tear their throats out with her own teeth.

As a sigh settled upon her lips, she made another turn and began to walk towards the bed once again, limping as she did so. Her wounds were beginning to cause her a bit of trouble with the amount of pressure and movement she was putting on them, but she was just so darn restless. Having to be kept inside the house was making her want to chow down on the first bad thing that waltz through the door.

Turning, she winced and a hand lifted to her right side, favouring it as she did so before pausing by the open window. She wanted to be out prowling the streets, not sitting in the house with her head down and being ignorant...

It was at that precise point in her line of thoughts, when the scent of an animal drifted passed and she quickly stuck her head stuck out of the window to catch the sight of an orange tail. An animal, here? It can't be, unless... Vayl had said that there were more of her kind here, did that mean that the animal was a Kelvic like herself?

Hardly pausing, the young wolf burst out of the door, charging/limping after the strange scent, following it down through cobbled streets and there were a couple of times where she had to stop and pay extra attention to find that particular scent again.

Having to stop to scent the air all the time was time consuming, especially seeing as there was a lot of scents in this city. It's a wonder their noses don't fall off, she mused silently before catching the scent once more and took off at a more slower pace, making sure to pay more attention to it.

Not only for the scent but also for her injuries, they were beginning to cause her some amount of pain and pulling. Why? She couldn't tell. Pausing in her footsteps, she lifted her left hand to wrap around her form so then she could press her palm over her aching fractured rib, her free hand dragging through her brindled red hair as she spotted a male crouched low as he was picking up his things.

Looking further ahead though, she spotted three men all cornering that orange animal and she limped forward her free hand sliding along the wall as she limped. She had to help that little thing. Most of the time when animals run, they were scared. Redd knew she shouldn't shift, because as Vayl had said, if she shifted it would put both of them at risk, but that poor little thing it was cornered.

As she neared the male that was crouched, she quickly glanced over the items, limping slowly passed him, making sure to mind her step and to not brush against this strange man so then she wouldn't ensure his wrath. Three men were going to be a struggle in her state as it was, she didn't want to add a fourth.

x

"I can't give you the sunset,
But I can give you the night."

x

[Elias Caldera]

The ball of orange and black fur had expeditiously found itself cornered. The silly thing had let itself be backed up against the water's edge, and though it sometimes turned as if to leap into the lake and swim for its escape, the creature always appeared to think better of that plan. In the end it resorted the hissing and growling at the men that now lazily approached it. Even from his vantage point, Elias could tell they were savoring the victory. There was no wildlife in Ravok, and pets, regardless of how rare they were, never had men as rough as those three sent chasing after them. It was easy enough then to surmise the fox was just a kelvic. The thing had probably gotten out of some cage at the KRI. He had often heard rumors about that place. How they bred dire, monstrous kelvics just for fun, sometimes letting them out at night and into the city so as to document the hunting of their human oppressors. It was bullshyke, he was sure, but Elias never let himself wander too close to the institute either way.

As he gathered up the last quill, thankfully unharmed, he picked himself off the ground while politely making room for a woman who moved passed him. He found himself too transfixed by the morbid scene that was unfolding and decided he could spare a chime or two to see how it all went down. He already knew how it was going to end though, the same way it always did. The fox tried to bolt to the left, but a black boot stomped in its path and it recoiled with a disturbing combination between a bark and a scream. One of the men flung a net at the thing, draping it in hemp that looked more suited to catching fish. What followed stunned Elias at first. A flash of swirling light unique only to the shift. He blinked, and in the fox's place now crouched a woman wearing nothing but a scowl and hair as vibrantly hued as the setting sun. She tore off the net with a howl of anger that seemed more appropriate coming from the new form than it did the old. As she did so however, the noose of the pole catch snapped around her neck. The Kelvic choked and flailed helplessly as it was tightened, her airways painfully cut off. She was brought down to ground hard and the three men quickly set upon her with shouts and grunts.

His eyes caught a flash of movement and motley colored hair. The mage's attention shifted from the one sided scuffle, to the woman that had limped by him earlier. He saw her tensing, her body tight and ready to spring. The way she looked on in indiscreet resentment and hostility at the captured kelvic's predicament told Elias exactly what she was thinking of doing; Something stupid. For whatever reasons that beguiled him into doing the fool things he usually did, when the girl made to take off towards the fox, Elias shot a hand out, barely grabbing hold of her dainty shoulder. She whirled around, surprised to say the least, her teeth bared like she had been... snarling? He shook his head down at her knowingly, but if she just shrugged his hand off and turned to charge at the three men again, Elias would have had to step to her side this time, an arm wrapped around her waste to pull her back. "Don't be a fool." He hissed as he tried to reel her back in with only one hand. The move seemed to cause her a great deal of pain.

The poachers, or slavers, or whatever they were, moved with practiced precision, binding the woman's feet and hands with surprising speed. Her screams of protest and fury were soon muffled as a gag was forced into her mouth before the rest of her was abruptly thrown into a sack. As they did so, the young mage noticed the dried red on the soles of her feet. Blood he guessed. If it was was blood, and this kelvic had killed someone, they were likely going to do worse than just auction her off at the next rally. Elias watched them go, unnerved to say least. The scene had not been a pretty one, and while he had no love loss for the animals who could take human form, watching one's life be systematically stripped away from it with each new knot tied into its bonds was unsettling to see so close up. It was only when the captured fox and the men hauling her away disappeared from sight did Elias opt to release the girl, but he would have only been holding unto her if she had denied and fought against his wisest of council. If she saw reason like any other sane Ravokian, he hoped he wouldn't have had a problem, but the last thing he needed people thinking of him was that he was some kind of lecher, grabbing unto women in the middle of the street with no shame or dignity to his name.

He had enough problems as it was.

[Redd]

x

Redd looked on in horror at the treatment of a fellow Kelvic a snarl curling her top lip upwards as she heard the combination of the scream and bark. How could citizens just watch this? Were Kelvics really nothing but animals to them?

She couldn't understand why human were such monsters. If she was nothing but a beast than they were the worst kind of all, monsters, just monsters. Why they did such acts puzzled her beyond belief but she would not allow this orange animal to go down alone.

As she was just about to leap forwards onto action, she felt a hand land upon her shoulder and she whirled around that same snarl still upon her lips, her angry hazel hues flickering over the male's form for a brief moment. He didn't show hostility, not one that meant her harm, but the shake of his head told her that he knew she was going to do something stupid.

Shrugging off his hand she would turn back to the scene before them, she couldn't allow this to happen if she could help it. However when she had begun to spring forwards for a second time, she saw movement out the corner of her eye and felt the steely grasp of an arm wrap around her waist, pulling her back with a hiss. Her lips parted in pain because of this and the anger seem to flee from her as she took a few deep breaths, trying to push the pain back as his arm had tightened around her fractured ribs putting pain there.

Her wide hazel gaze turning to view the other poor Kelvic as the three men began binding that poor Kelvic. Shaking her head, she couldn't help but allow her form to slump within his grasp, her own being screaming at her in pain, but her mind was elsewhere. It was the first time she had ever seen another Kelvic and that one was now bound and being hauled away all because a human had to intervene.

She could feel as if the life had been physically stripped from that Kelvic and she couldn't tell which pain hurt the worst, Redd's physical one or that other Kelvic's emotional and mental ones.

She finally felt the male release her as the view of that poor Kelvic was lost down an alley and Redd couldn't help but slump against the wall of some building, lifting a pale hand to run through her brindled red hair. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, "Why? Why did you stop me? I could have helped her, I could have..."

Her voice trailed off for a moment as she finally pulled herself to stand up, lifting her chin so then she could view the male that had stopped her from helping a fellow Kelvic. "I don't understand why you stopped me but I could have helped her!" She finally said, her voice rising quickly before ending in a growl upon her lips. Who did this man think he was for stopping her like he did?

x

"I can't give you the sunset,
But I can give you the night."

x

[Elias Caldera]

His hand jerked away in a pointless gesture of innocence as he threw it up in the air. She had practically fainted at his touch, and now she seemed barely able to stand. He sincerly hoped that hadn't been because of him, but he did begin to wonder what it was exactly that she had planned to do against those men if Elias had stood idly by? Pass out at their feet and prayed they tripped over her? The young mage eyed the girl warily, as one would a house of cards in the middle of a windy field. He let her finish her unwarranted tirade, her words ending with an animal growl that nearly had him flinching back. Instead, his brow furrowed and the novice fixed the girl with a stern gaze of his own. "Yes, you could have helped. Helped yourself into a sack right alongside her." He said, slightly surprised he hadn't called the kelvic an 'it' as he usually did. "I don't know what your quarrel was, nor do I care to become involved, but a sliver of advice from one hot head to another; pick your battles." It was a disingenuous plea in the end, but it was the best he could offer to a stranger none the less.

He took a small step back from the hazel eyed women, examining where her arm took hold of her own small frame or seemed more prone to favoring. He was no physician, but there was obviously something wrong. That or his masculine allure now simply left women with bated breath and... a struggling predicament to stay conscious around him. He frowned at the thought and at her as he gestured vaguely at what he assumed was giving the brindled haired girl the most trouble. "Are you... unwell, mam?" He asked.

By then the muffled screams had subsided into after thought, at least for many of those who had taken to gawking at the spectacle. Now they simply went about their day as normal again, their mundane chores made a little bit more memorable thanks to the 'entertainment' the kelvic had provided. For Elias it was the same. He cared little for the plight of kelvics, yet this woman had for some reason. It intrigued him despite what he had said earlier, but only slightly, his main concern was primarily leaving her alive and well, just like he had found her. Well alive anyway. In addition to being a lecher, the thing he needed was people claiming he was a murderer as well.

Elias suddenly wondered for a moment if the girl was homeless. He noted the gauntness to her cheeks, the paleness of her complexion... the lack of shoes upon her feet. Her clothes were plain, but not tarnished like he would have expected however, and she seemed to be in better shape than any beggar would have the right to be. Of course, you didn't often find a beggar on the streets of Ravok. The Stryfe had a reliable habit of making those poor wretches disappear awfully quick when the tell tale wail of pittance and charity reared its ugly head. Something about compassion and sympathy seemed to just upset them, he mused. "Look, the Healing Hand can sort out whatever is ailing you pretty well. Its down that road until you hit the temple, then you take a left through the plaza, a right passed the Nitrozian courtyard, and another right... "

He droned on for a while like that, then paused an narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, suddenly suspecting she had lost him a few right turns ago. "Or..." He sighed, and openly this time. "I can show you the way. Its on my path I suppose." He said, hefting up his bag to indicate his shopping run. He had quite the list to attend to today. He gave her fragile frame another quick once over. It was a shame she seemed so damaged, he could have used the extra muscle.

[Redd]

x

She had watched the male silently, the growl still upon her lips and she was beginning to wonder whether he had stopped her just for the sake of annoying her, because that would be fun. Annoy the brindled haired Kelvic that might decide to forget her recent endeavours to the doctor, say hell to it all and attempt to rip his throat out.

However, when he spoke about helping herself into a sack right along side the other Kelvic, the growl soon died and was replaced with a sigh. The male, however human he was, spoke a great deal of sense. She wasn't in any real shape to help another and what about Vayl? He would be furious, hell, he'd be furious that she wasn't still in the house where he had left her. The odd human, was right, for now she had to pick her battles and for right this minute her battle was to attempt to heal properly, although she probably could visit that doctor again for that plant. However disgusting it was, it still took away some of her pain.

Lifting her left arm she wrapped it around her form again, pressing her left palm against her right side to try to quell the pain, it was all she could attempt to do at the moment as she watched the human take a step back, her hazel hues flickering over his form. While he was no Vayl, who held a certain charm of his own, of which she was still trying to figure out, but this human's over-all appearance had what she would sometimes call out in the wild, a fighter's build. He also seemed to carry that grim look that she had often seen out on the trails and she angled her head to the right. There was something different though and she was trying to place what it was when he spoke about being unwell.

When he said mam at the end of his question, she blinked, stepping back so then her back was pressed against the wall again. He called her mam? Why did he do that? Was it some kind of insult or was it meant to be some human thing when they exchanged greetings?

Then he began to speak of a healing hand and began to prattle on about directions and she simply blinked, watching him. She re-called her first true encounter with another man out in the wild and he was the opposite of helpful. Well, he was sometimes helpful but not at all friendly. This man was.... She paused, strong. He also called himself hot-headed, but he also seemed to be... Helpful. He didn't fit the usual human criteria of nasty and it puzzled her just enough to be curious.

When he mentioned showing her the way she nodding silently for a moment before she spoke once again, her tone a lot softer this time. "I've... Already seen a... A doctor, he was..." She paused for a moment wincing as she remembered the painful removal of infection and continued on. "Pleasant. I hope you don't mind if I tag along for a bit, I was hoping at some stage anyway to begin to learn the outlay of this city. Seeing as I have already gotten myself lost anyway, I do hope it's no trouble, I can help you with... She paused as her gaze flickered to his back pack, what was he doing exactly? "Whatever you are doing. I can still carry some things, regardless of what the doctor says.

x

"I can't give you the sunset,
But I can give you the night."

x

[Elias Caldera]

The way she hesitated with her words made Elias wonder whether she was just a particularly poor liar, or was just struggling with the common language. At least she seemed less inclined to the notion of biting his face off, that was a positive step in the right direction. Honestly, the look the girl had given him had been so primal and wild he had nearly decided to jump in the canal just to get away. Probably a good idea not to get on her bad side. He concluded, eying her warily as she spoke. It became pretty clear pretty fast she was no native to Ravok, a fact many natives would have a field day exploiting. Being a Ravoki himself, the idea had sprang to mind relatively... immediately.

"Seeing as I have already gotten myself lost..."

Hmm Elias mused, letting her finish. That's the problems with looking for trouble. her eyes hovered over his goods and he had to restrain a reflexive desire to shirk away. He still heavily suspected her of being some kind of alley rat who had just stumbled unto an easy mark. "I'm shopping." He said, clarifying the matter, as if it wasn't obvious already. In his bag he had collected a number of essentials he would later need for his project, the most noticeable of which being the wooden basic that protruded from the top indiscreetly. His plan; creating his own magecrafting lab, but he wasn't exactly going to just blurt that little tidbit out to just any strange woman he met on the street. It made him realize he still did not have a name, but he thought better of asking if she chose not to give it. He also wasn't going to ask how she had gotten herself into such a 'pleasant' situation with her doctor, whatever that alluded to. Her business was her business, and more often than not, business in Ravok involved business one would rarely want to get caught up in. Plus, if he had asked and she had revealed she was suffering some horribly incurable disease, it would make the rest of this trip rather awkward to say the least. He nodded cautiously to her request to join him, regardless.

He motioned with his head for her to follow and took a step down the road. He was heading in the direction the three men had come from earlier. Elias figured they had come from the plaza of dark delights, but it was only an assumption. He would likely end up there himself by the end of this escapade. The shadow of necessity was often one cast over that place, and Elias had been no stranger to the plaza in the past.

"As long as you don't go keeling over into the canal, that's fine." He added a smile on the end of that for good measure. "Its unusually kind to offer aid to a stranger, you must not have started drinking the water yet." He asked, skillfully fishing for answers as they walked at a pace the young mage hadn't considered might be too much for the girl to handle comfortably. His next stop was the clothing store. "Is Ravok everything you had hoped it would be?" He continued, completely forgetting about the woman that had been gagged and bound like an animal -because she was an animal- not a few moments ago. He hadn't even considered it might have soured her whole experience until the daft question had slipped from his lips.

Skilful indeed.

[Redd]

x

Redd watched his silent movements with a silence of her own, listening as he finally said that he was shopping. Shopping? Her hazel hues flickered over his form once again wondering what exactly shopping was, her puzzled gaze flickering over to the bag once again, noting the wooden item with a slight interest.

As he mentioned her with his head to follow, watching him take a few steps ahead before she followed him, limping quietly as she tried to puzzle in her mind what exactly was different about him. Was it his frame? Was it perhaps the way he stood? The moment he spoken unusual kindness, she nodded her head in thought, it did indeed seem like herself and Vayl were not the only ones that had noticed that kindness was rather rare around here. Maybe this the thing that was different about him.

Taking a moment she softly spoke, having been use to Vayl and his own soft voice. "While I may have not yet started drinking the water of the lake, I have indeed had instead had a pack of wolves set upon me. However, their only mistake was trying to play in my environment."

She paused, listening to his question and she angled her head slightly to the right, making sure to keep up with this male's pace so she wouldn't fall too far behind. She couldn't help but think on his question, taking a few chimes to do so. "I have not seen much of Ravok, but from the small bits that I have, it seems cruel, exactly as Vayl told me that it was."

A sigh parted her soft lips as she glanced ahead them, taking small mental notes of their surroundings this time, "However, I cannot leave, not even if I wanted to. I can't possibly explain it to you because I don't even understand it myself."

Redd didn't understand why he was asking these questions, perhaps he was just making small talk? However, it wasn't exactly a conversation she wanted to keep going at any point, seeing as Ravok was indeed cruel and it was still annoying her that she would not and did not have a chance to save the other Kelvic girl.

"So, what made you come to Ravok? I ask because.... You seem a little different." She figured that she might as well ask, seeing as they were making small talk, it couldn't hurt right? Afterall she wasn't sure whether she would ever see him again after this, chances are Vayl would lock her away inside his house and she would never be allowed out again.

x

"I can't give you the sunset,
But I can give you the night."

x

[Elias Caldera]

The two walked along the canal, quietly chatting with one another as if they hadn't been utterly alien to one another only a chime or two ago. Though the girl made an odd sight as she hobbled along side him, few openly stared at her lithe, limping figure, and she and Elias strode by without contest. On the other hand, there were more than a few disconcerting glances between the pair of them, but those were always the case and common place on the streets. It didn't matter if you were pauper or prince in the city of canals, you were always someone else's target, or someone else's pawn, and that someone else would always be looking for you. As Elias figured it, you just had to find them before they found you.

"Are we talking real wolves, fangs and claws and all that, or figurativ- oh wow, real wolves it is." He said, astonished at the fact. The mage had indeed heard the animals had begun acting up with an unnatural ferocity since the storm, but he hadn't actually seen any victims of their amped up aggressiveness till today. He wondered if it had been luck that had saved the outsider, or if the girl was truly more than she seemed. As she went on however, he found her answers far more cryptic and riddle with riddles than he cared for, leading him to consider the latter more profoundly. What did she mean 'her enviroment'? Who was 'Vayl'? And what was so inconceivable that it trapped her here? By her tone, as hushed and soft as it was, he could tell the stranger wouldn't be all that keen on an interrogation to pry free her secrets, so Elias let it all be. There had been one thing she had said that had caught the young mage's attention however. She had called Ravok cruel.

His first response would have normally been 'one hadn't seen cruelty until they insulted the homeland of a Ravokian to their face', but he refrained. Those days of outbursts were long behind him, still, cruel was what the naive considered this city. What the uneducated and ignorant thought the Ravok embodied simply because of its misunderstood lord. True cruelty would have been if Rhysol had never gifted them with his blessing of blood, or allowed a temple to be erected in his honor upon the hallowed sight. True cruelty was out there, beyond the shores of the lake, where men were made fools by the trivial notion that the world didn't belong to the strong and determined faithful. That all they needed was a good heart and a honest day's work to see them rewarded in the end. That lie was cruel, but by the grace of the defiler, Ravok would always free of its diseased clutches.

Naturally, Elias hadn't said any of that out loud, lest he sent her running -Well, limping away. Instead he countered with "Compared to what?" Where had she seen such wickedness that it not only rivaled, but paled in comparison to Ravok, he wondered. He left her to chew on that, as by then the two were crossing over a high arching bridge that connected the districts to one another. A ravasola and its driver lazily drifting underneath. The man waved to them and smiled, no doubt trying to charm the lovely couple into a romantic ride through the lovely mid spring channels. Elias paid him no mind and kept on, listening curiously to the girl's final question instead. Why was he here?

He laughed, almost callously so, despite his best effort to suppress it. Oh, he could write a tragic petching novel on why he was really here and what had truly driven him back home. He suddenly side stepped off the road and up a trio of stairs. "Maybe I'm not so different." He said with a final chuckle, pulling open the door to the shop called the "Odds and Ends" before courteously waving the brindled haired stranger inside. "Maybe I'm just better at hiding it."

He followed in after her, taking note of the grand, disheveled assortment of goods that lined the store from wall to cluttered wall. With only one step, the two of them would soon find themselves surrounded on all sides by items of all shapes, sizes and colors. From the floor to the ceiling, shelves, racks, tables, crates and chests filled with countless treasures were all splayed out before them in a dizzying arrangement. A friendly voice came from somewhere in the back, one he recognized from years gone past as the owner of the shop, but when he lifted his head to look for the source, he instead found himself staring into the nasty studded club of the barbarian that guarded the store. He nearly flinched back at the unwelcome surprise, but contained his unpleasant welcome and displeasure. The mountain looked down at him, gruff and stoic and absolutely silent. Elias nodded at him nervously then scurried away, making sure to pull along the girl with him. Gloria had sounded busy somewhere in the back anyway, he would go and say hello another time.

As for right now, Elias let himself be enveloped in all the possibilities he had just become privy to. He disappeared first into the countless racks of clothing, leaving the girl to stand there alone, and no dubt befuddled. When he reappeared a tick later, he held a turban atop his head with his left hand, and a frilly pink skirt across his waist with his right. "What do you think?" He said with a suddenly sultry tone. "Do I make this look good, or do I make this look good!"

[Redd]

x

Redd's hazel gaze watched as the male before her seemed quite surprised at the fact that were indeed talking about real wolves, what other kind of wolf might she be talking about? The young woman wondered as she glanced around at their surroundings trying to find certain points that would stand out, so then she would be able to find her way more easily whenever she decided to make a rash decision to dash out the door.

Inhaling slowly, taking in that delicious, life giving air, her gaze drifted back to the male before her, slowly taking in his figure as he seemed to think things over. It almost looked as if he was going to say something but then he decided not to and she couldn't help but think why.

Instead, he decided to say, "Compared to what?" and her thoughts halted for a moment. He was right to ask such a thing, she couldn't exactly say she had anything to compare Ravok to. However, after the scene she had seen happen to a fellow Kelvic, she wasn't persuaded that Ravok was anything but cruel.

She paused at the bridge, her fingers grasping the rail as she leaned upon it to glance over at the man on the boat, waving and smiling at them. That was a very strange thing to do, she thought to herself before she quickly turned to jog/limp to catch up to Caldera. It was then that she heard the man laugh, she was startled to hear the sound coming from his lips, he didn't seem to be the laughing kind, or maybe he was and she just assumed he hadn't been.

Following him up the stairs, a smile curved her soft lips and angled her head, not so different huh? This was a human, an interesting human at this and she wanted to stick around a little longer to puzzle it out, even if he only allowed her to stick around for a small amount of time.

As he waved her through the door, she stood amazed her hazel gaze taking in the many assorted items in the store. She couldn't believe that such a thing existed and now she was just gawking at the store, it was bigger than it had originally looked from the outside.

Redd had also turned her head when she heard the voice, only to see the barbarian with the odd looking club and she blinked, what the petch were they feeding him to make him so large? She pondered before she felt the male's grasp upon her hand, firmly pulling her away from the mountain man.

The moment he let go and disappeared into the countless racks of clothing, she blinked, confused for a moment. What was this man doing? She silently question before she spotted the man reappearing a tick later. She lifted a hand to press to her lips as she took in the male with the turban and skirt, an uncontrolled giggle bubbling to her lips.

He looked ridiculous to her but his words made her truly laugh and she pressed a hand to her cheek feeling the crimson stain as a blush rose to her cheeks. Struggling to breath, she gasped in some air, wincing a little, but she shook her head. "You look..." Another giggle rose to her lips as her humored hues peered up at him, "You look ridiculous!"

Quickly, untying the cloak from around her throat, she handed it to him before disappearing from his view for a couple of chimes. She then reappeared with a coif sitting on top of her head, an eyepatch covering her left eye and her right hand held a green chemise in front of her form. "Do I look pretty?" She asked in a low tone with a smirk upon her lips.

x

"I can't give you the sunset,
But I can give you the night."

x