The Things We Lose

by **Ricky Maze** on September 29th, 2014, 5:54 am

Autumn 8th 514 AV, 9th Bell
Poor Martin. Poor Telion. The both of them had been sick and of course their visit to the Infirmary led them to learn that Martin was only dealing with a common cold, a sickness children and babies regularly had to go through if they wanted their immunity against other diseases remain strong. That didn't stop the child from feeling upset though, thus while Ricky waited in the hall for Telion to finish her exam with the doctor, he felt had got an idea that seemed pretty good at the time. Finally Telion had exited out of the room Ricky waited at with arms held at her stomach, her discomfort evident as she gave Ricky a "bleh" expression before she leaned into him.

"D'aww, sorry yew ain't feelin' well love." He brought an arm around to hold her close as he spoke.

"Yeah well I'll be fine in a after a while, I'm more worried about our little boy." She looked to the child in his other arm with a gentle hand brought to the boy's face, Martin leaned into his father with pretty much the same enthusiasm as his mother.

"Aye, he'll be aight. He's tough like 'is Pa." He encouraged as he hoped it would amuse Telion a bit, the best he got though was a small chuckle before he decided to move the family along. "Oi actually 'ad a t'ought. Since Martin's not feelin' well, Oi t'ought t' go ahead an' take 'im 'round town. Maybe de air could 'elp wit' dat cough an' stuffy nose he's got." He suggested while they were on the way out, Telion didn't see any reason to argue, since the fresh air did sometimes help one breathe better. Thus when Ricky made sure that she got home and made it to the bed to relax for a little while, he took the extra essentials he needed to look after Martin while they were out. He packed in the bag a couple bottles of milk, a half loaf of bread, an extra diaper, and of course Martin's toys. While he would be carrying the child with his blanket wrapped around him, he also decided to pack a couple of extra washcloths to be on the safe side. While he already had one for diaper changing, he figured another two used for his nose or mouth couldn't hurt.

Thus they left their home shortly afterwards with decent spirits to follow, seeing as how Ricky hoped this would at least make Martin feel better during the process.

The Things We Lose
Autumn 8th 514 AV, 12th Bell
Location: West Street

They'd taken a seat on a bench near one of the stores for a quick break, Rick's legs felt worn out from the amount of walking he'd done, and of course his shoulder felt kind of numb from wearing the backpack for over an extended period of time. Of course the places they visited did distract Martin a little, but it was here on West Street where Ricky thought of the best thing to hopefully make the child feel better. Sweets! When he came here not too long ago he visited one of the stores to make a payment for a few pieces of candy, something that had only recently been imported so the stock would be limited. It was by far the perfect time to invest in a little something for Martin to enjoy, seeing as how he was feeling blue and all.

""ere ya go son." He held one of the candies up for Martin to grab, and the child of course did the natural thing he always would do. With the first piece in his mouth Ricky watched as the child took interest in the flavor he'd just ingested, a short laugh to follow as the father looked at the three other pieces in his hand. "T'ey must be pretty good, never was much o' a sweet man me self." He shared as he decided to try just one of the three, surprised much like Martin was when the flavor of sweetness seemed to melt over his tongue. "But damn, t'at's pretty petchin' sweet." He grimaced a little as he tried to avoid biting and chewing on it, after about several chimes of letting the candy dissolve he swallowed what was left and looked to the child once more. "Yew can 'ave de rest, ain't no way Oi'm 'avin dat stuff." He mused as he held another one up for the child to grab, that's when he took notice that Martin had already started to drool all over his face.

"Haha, yer hopeless son." He reached inside the bag next to his feet as he grasped a cloth to use for wiping, and gently brushed the corner of it over Martin's mouth as well as under his nose. The poor boy nearly started to cry when he did this, the stuffed nasals no doubt a bother to the child. Ricky then placed the bag on his lap as he leaned over to look down into the bag for one of Martin's toys, he had to shuffle and sort through it but finally he found one of the toys at least. ""ere." He brought the Laviku figure up before the child, and repeated the word several times in a cheery manner to distract Martin further. When the boy finally took the toy and started to wave it about, Ricky sighed as he murmured to himself "Got one sweet left an' den its only yer toys."

He wondered if and when he should probably be heading back home, sure Martin seemed to be having an okay time, but he just definitely wasn't as energetic as he normally is when it came to being outdoors. Oi wonder why Oi couldn't find de ot'er toy. He thought as he looked down at the bag once again, he then decided to go through it once more to make sure that it only remained buried within the contents somewhere.

ReceiptCandy (Honey) - 20 CM for 4 pieces.

by **Black Onyx** on September 30th, 2014, 2:04 pm

Black was feeling rather irritable as she removed her cloak in order to tie the black scarf around her neck so then it could act as an arm sling for her left arm. Movement only made the pain of the burn on her left fore-arm worse and her right hand couldn’t always hold her left as she ran after targets. A pained wince crossed her facial features as she lifted her left arm to slide into the sling that the scarf made and a sigh parted her lips, her brown hues closing for a moment. So far, she had managed to avoid seeing any kind of doctor for the injury and she had also avoided telling Jadlin about the burn itself. She didn’t want to tell him how and why she had received such a nasty burn, already she suspected that he would eventually find out, seeing as the burn still felt as bad as the day she had first received it. She had only managed to avoid telling him through luck, well whatever luck she had left. A grumble within her stomach reminded her that business was not going as well as she had planned, especially seeing as her injury was becoming a problem.

The young equine had to up her game, she was going to have to do something and she hoped that the sling that she had recently bought from The General Store would help support her arm. She had stopped at the docks in order to secure the scarf around her neck, it was only a brief stop for she didn’t need to wait for any of her lazy informants at this point in time of the day. Her right hand reached out to grasp her black cloak and brought it around her shoulders, awkwardly tying on the cloak. Such tasks were becoming difficult to the woman and pain creased her features as she bumped her left arm against a wooden crate. ”Petching Kilt” She cursed to herself, although in soft tones so then she could not be heard by anyone other than herself. Once the cloak was secure and she had arranged it so then it covered her form and most importantly, her left arm, she began to walk towards West Street. Black hoped that maybe she might be able to secure a purse or two now that her arm was secured. Maybe now, her left arm would not hurt so much, but the dull burning and throbbing sensation, paired with the pull of the burnt skin, told her otherwise.

Silently, she hunched her shoulders and angled her gaze down towards the cobblestone in order to avoid drawing more attention to herself. She had drawn too much attention to herself in the past forty days than she had in two years and she was beginning to curse her luck, question it even. As she entered West Street, she glanced up for a moment, her right hand lifting to brush back her black mane from her face and that was when she saw him again. Ricky Maze with some kid. How on Mizahar did she keep running into the man? It had to be her luck, it had to be her bad luck that was begging to just have her thrown into prison. Here she was, about to try and gain a purse or two, since the night that she had first ran into Ricky and here he was again! It had to be a sign, a sign from the gods that very soon she would be thrown into prison for her sins. Her brown hues lingered upon the male before she turned to leave. While the man was Jadlin’s brother, she didn’t exactly feel like talking about her feelings, nor a change of occupations. A talk that she felt was soon approaching, seeing as he seemed to care for his little brother.

ReceiptBlack Scarf -1 SM

by **Ricky Maze** on October 2nd, 2014, 9:19 am

He continued to pilfer through the bag and yet no matter how many times he sorted through the things he brought along, not a damn sign of that one toy happened to be present as he continued to shuffle around to see if it might've gone in a different pocket. Martin however seemed to be on the verge of crying once more, and given that Ricky had him sitting on his lap while the father leaned down, there was little question as to how uncomfortable the child probably felt. "Sh, Martin. It's o'kay." He tried to comfort the child then as he temporarily gave up the look for the other toy, and picked up his son to try calming the child before he fell into a fit. "Oi'm sorry son, Oi know yew ain't feelin' well."

He started to rock gently as he held the child close, his eyes shot down from the child in his arms to that of the general public. Very few seemed to have taken time to notice the father and son but there was one, one that he knew by face that he felt could probably help him out. "Oy! Black!" She seemed to had turn the other way before he spoke as though she wanted to go elsewhere, or rather just avoid him in general given their short brief history together before realizing just how connected they actually were. She hesitated though when she heard him call her name, and only turned just a little to glance over her shoulder once more, likely to see if she just imagined hearing him say her name. The thought amused him a little bit, but the amusement alone wouldn't last, seeing as how that wouldn't be enough to calm his son down just a little bit. But she probably could. "Com'ere a tick, would ya? Oi need ya t' do somet'in fer me." He issued with a humble tone in hopes that she would do so, it seemed that she was willing to at least lend him an ear if anything else.

When she had finally came close enough to where she stood a couple of feet away from he bench, Ricky took Martin and turned him to where he would be able to see the woman that came to stop by. He did this so that the child would know that his father wasn't going to just hand him over to some stranger, given that he'd be needing both arms to do another thorough check through the bag. "'ave a seat if ye would, Oi need ye t' 'old Martin fer a chime. Won't be long Oi promise, only until Oi know fer sure whet'er o' not 'is toy's gone." He explained when he noticed the look of apprehension that crossed her face, even though he generally wouldn't easily allow a pickpocket such as her to just hold his son. But she was Jadlin's lover after all, and Ricky was willing to be trustful enough, so in a way this was very well a second chance for a first impression. "Martin, dis 'ere is Black. She's a nice young lass, so be good t' 'er when she holds yew." He murmured to the boy softly although it was still loud enough for her to hear, he still gave the boy a kiss on the back of the head though after he stroked the boys hair a couple of times, and then he proceeded to ease him over to Black when she seemed ready to hold the boy in her lap.

When that part had passed he would proceed to bring the bag from the ground into his lap, and once more sort out and shuffle through the pockets with silent curses muttered. He knew he didn't bring that much stuff with him to begin with and Martin already had one diaper change, the bread was gone and along with a bottle of milk, one bottle still remained of course but that just left the two toys. Which one of them, the Laviku figurine, was in here when Ricky pulled it out for the child, so then where did that leave the boat figurine? All while the father tried to figure this out Martin had been watching, both his father and the woman that turned out to be a stranger to the child. He seemed fine mostly just overly curious as to who she was, of course Black could easily tell Martin must've been feeling under the weather, given his slightly stuffy yet sort of runny nose and slightly warm forehead if she were to have felt it.

by **Black Onyx** on October 5th, 2014, 6:46 am

"Oy! Black!" She paused in her steps and mentally cringed, so he had seen her after-all. Silently, she glanced over her shoulder, her browns hues noting the child he had with him and she pressed her lips tightly together as she pondered as to whether she should go over to him. He was, after-all Jadlin’s older brother and she had sort of expected him to have chased her away from him by now. Instead, he had made Jadlin open his feelings up to her. While she was still hesitant to oblige the wave guard, she sighed and finally turned towards him. The moment that he asked her over so then she could help him, she pressed her lips together and had a feeling that it was going to bite her in the butt as most things did now days. Slowly, she made her way over to Ricky with the child. She paused in front of him as she raised a questioning brow at him, her gaze silently sliding over his form, looking for an intent that meant he was going to put her in manacles. Although, she kind of doubted that he would, considering he had a child within his arms, although she wouldn’t really rely upon that factor ever stopping him. She was a criminal after-all.

He asked her to have a seat and a frown settled over her features before she complied, settling herself down upon the bench beside Ricky, uneasiness settling inside of her. Martin was the child’s name and she was just about to object before she nodded her head. Perhaps this would score her some brownie points with Jadlin’s brother, maybe, just maybe it might help improve his opinion with her and make it look as if she was trying to be friendly with her bondmate’s family members. While Ricky talked to his son, she painfully withdrew her left arm from her makeshift sling and she held her arms out so then the boy could settled into her lap, her hands lightly gripping the child by his sides. Honestly, she had no idea as to what to do with the boy, her brown eyes wide as she tried to work out as to what she was supposed to do with him. She didn’t have any experience with children, especially babies and here was one in her lap, one that appeared to be sick with something. The fact that Ricky had called her nice, hadn’t been lost on her and she had given him a sideward glance, but he had already started digging through the child’s bag.

She wasn’t nice; she knew this because she was a thief. One couldn’t be nice and a thief otherwise they would spend half their time giving things back. Black did have to admit though, she had given back a few things back but mostly to those that had agreed to become an informant of hers. She turned her attention back to the child and she shifted the child so then he was cradle into her right arm. He was still seated in her lap, but his head was cradled in the crook of her right elbow, her arm curving around his form to provide support. She lifted her left arm, biting back the stabbing pain that she felt with every movement of her left arm and pressed a hand to Martin’s forehead, which was warm to the touch. His nose also appeared runny and she dropped her left arm to her side, wincing as she did so. She stared at the child for a moment, weary that it would give her whatever Martin had, but a sigh drifted passed her lips and she looked down the street. It was almost relaxing in a way, almost… Normal. A normal life filled with family outings, picnics and gatherings. Although, she knew that this was not her family, it was Jadlin’s family.

He had called her family once or twice but the concept was still new to her and she wasn’t used to it. Her family never came across the best of luck when it involved her, in fact, her biological family had been murdered and her adoptive father had to leave due to being caught stealing once. A frown settled upon her forehead as she pondered Jadlin’s words. She was his family, but then so was Ricky and this little boy here. Jadlin probably had more family that he realized, having stumbled upon Ricky inside of the university library. Ricky and she, were not the best of friends either, instead she figured them to be on the opposite sides. He was well connected than she was and held a lot more power inside of Zeltiva than she ever could. If he wanted her out of Jadlin’s life, than chances were, he knew what was best for his little brother. Black wouldn’t make a fuss, she wouldn’t make Jadlin choose between his blood family and her, so she would leave quietly should Ricky request it of her. Drawing in a long breath, she began to lightly chew upon her bottom lip. The young equine knew that she didn’t deserve a kind-hearted soul such as Jadlin, he was pure and she? Not so much. Her gaze returned back to the boy cradled in her arm, she could see some of Ricky in his features. She then softly spoke to the boy, "You look a little like your father."

by **Ricky Maze** on October 10th, 2014, 3:53 am

Ricky had to admit it amused him some that he regarded Black as being "nice" even though he knew otherwise, though in truth he felt himself rather presumptuous and therefore decided to at least consider giving her a second chance. She did after all have to have reasons for her own behavior as well, and given that she'd just recently learned her lover was in fact his own younger brother, well that just had to be a startling revelation to learn all in one day. Yet even so Ricky didn't think to talk with her until he deemed it an appropriate time, and lucky for him that time seemed to be today if... "Dammit!" He muttered with a sigh to follow as the toy didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, by the looks of it they had to either left it somewhere or just plainly dropped it if Martin held onto the toy.

The issue though was Ricky's memory of course, he couldn't quite remember where he'd last seen the toy, or where it was Martin last held while they were on their walk together. T'ink back now... where'd we go again? He recollected the places he knew for sure they had stopped at, bringing up three particular places that seemed to come to mind at best. One was Maiden's Cape, the other was the Cerulean Pier, and then there was also The Fountain of Cascading Harmony. So if Ricky were to bet on it, the toy would be left at one of those three places. As he thought this he heard Black mumble something in a soft breath, just low enough to where he barely heard it but alas not the words she said. Either way he felt a small grin at first, which seemed to die down as he remembered just who it was that he allowed to hold Martin. She definitely seemed to be in a deep contemplation, about what though was something Ricky could only guess at.

Was it about him? About the relation between him, her, and Jad? Or was it Jadlin in general? He pretty much grasped at straws and instead of fishing to find out, decided that he'd save the talk for later when he his minor crisis had been averted. In fact... Oi dun see why not... She's canny and might be able t' 'elp find it. His own contemplation followed and as he reached a conclusion he sighed, after the moment of the beard stroke passed Ricky finally leaned over to where he could hold the child once more. Martin who had been watching his bearer this whole time still looked at Black with intense curiosity, even after he had been finally transferred back into the arms of his father. "T'anks." He managed to speak in a lower tone than usual, he had to admit he found it more difficult to ask this compared to the idea, which seemed much easier to do in his head than actual reality.

Then of course he decided to kick reality in the ass, and put the internal feelings he debated with aside. "Say Black. Oi've uh, gotta bit o' a dilemma." His averted gaze changed as he finally looked to her, willing to provide her the chance to make up for the other night and in turn patch things up along the way. "Martin's ot'er toy is gone, Oi can't seem t' find it in me bag an' Oi dun wanna spend de rest o' me day lookin' fer it. So would'ya feel up t' helpin' me out an' figurin' out where de toy might be at?" He requested as politely as he could even though he still seemed unsure if it was stupid to ask, he did get the impression that Black wasn't one to help out others in the slightest after all.

Side Quest Time! :

by **Black Onyx** on October 12th, 2014, 2:11 pm

Black managed a small smile towards the boy that seemed to keep watching her. For a kid, he was kinda creepy, considering she wasn’t used to being watched so intently. She perked a brow at the kid and then looked away shifting slightly upon the bench that they were currently sitting on, a sigh caressing her lips. She had never thought of having a family of her own, in fact, she had never thought that she would survive this long or, or evade prison. Now she had Jadlin and things were moving, fast. She had to admit, it did scare her, it scared her because she felt like things were spinning out of her control. The dominoes were falling faster than she could keep up. Drawing in a slow breath, she exhaled, her gaze drifted over potential targets, but she was still highly aware of the child in her arms, the boy that kept staring up at her. At this thought, she shifted again upon the bench, a frown descending upon her brow. Why am I doing this again? She asked herself before she remembered that it was because Ricky was Jadlin’s brother. Things had been so much simpler before she met Jadlin, she hadn’t had to worry about making impressions. Her life had been just a simple, she would either die or survive and she had accepted that. Then along came Jadlin.

She didn’t regret meeting Jad, for he gave her life meaning, a sense of belonging. She was brought out of these thoughts as Ricky took Martin from her arms and she nodded her head as he thanked her in a lowered voice. She merely shrugged before she spoke, ”No need to thank me.” She rose to stand then, her right hand lifting to help her tuck her left arm back into the make shift sling, biting down upon her bottom lip as she did so. Once her left arm was settled in the embrace of the sling, a sigh of relief fell across her lips, as she looked down the street, away from East Street. She was putting in an effort to avoid that particular street at the moment, especially considering her left arm was still basically out of commission. She pressed her lips together as she finally decided that maybe going to the docks would be safer, especially considering that Ricky was out and about on the streets. She would rather avoid conflict with her bondmate’s older brother considering that she had to make up for the time where they had first met. Honestly, she was finding out that she mostly met people through stealing from them.

Ricky spoke again and she turned upon the spot to view the man with the child, she had honestly expected him to have left by now. To do whatever it was that he did, prowl the streets or get drunk and so she angled her head a little as she noted the averted gaze. He seemed hesitant to ask her what he wanted to ask and she patiently waited for him to spit it out, rocking back upon her heels. The moment that he asked his question, a sigh fell upon her lips. She wasn’t really in the mood to help him, she was more in the mood to go visit Jadlin, but her gaze flickered back to Martin and she pressed her lips tightly together. It’s the child’s toy, she thought to herself, if he had asked her, of all people than he must be desperate. Besides… the child was cute…ish and chances were, she wasn’t likely to have one of her own. She would probably die before she ever had the chance, why not just… Enjoy the experience of hanging out with a child and it’s papa bear. She looked away, feigning indifference. ”Alright, I’ll help, even though I know that you would prefer that it was someone else that you were asking.” People didn’t trust thieves, nor did they ever ask them to do anything for them, especially if someone knew that they were a thief. ”Retracing your steps out loud will help so then I can attempt to make a guess as it where it could possibly be.”

by **Ricky Maze** on October 14th, 2014, 6:39 am

Quest Accepted! :

At first Ricky seemed to want to protest that was the case with her, but given that there was some truth to it he refrained from doing so. In short he only looked back down at the ground in dismay, rather hopeful that whatever really did happen the other night when they met didn't leave any bad impressions on his part. Truthfully he wanted to think better of Black even when it seemed like she was cold and manipulative, which is why he more or less wanted to find a better chance to talk with her, alone rather than near Jadlin like the other day. Of course with a wounded pride and tormenting regret for what he could only think of as crossing the line, he hadn't found it easy to really directly approach her the way he did until today. And with the way they both have had a rocky start in this ironic link between them, given his brother was her lover, he soon found that there was more to her than she truly led on. He sighed then as he slipped the bag over his shoulder and rose to his feet, Martin securely snug in both arms as he continued to avoid looking at Black. "T'anks..."

Somehow he really felt guilty about the other night, though his memory was hazy as to what exactly happened, he still felt regret after seeing that it'd been done all the same. Sure she might've provoked him but all the same he really shouldn't have lost control, not when it came at the expense of harming her or others in the process. Oi should learn t' control me temper better. He reminded himself as he recollected today's trips instead. "Telion an' Oi visited de Infirmary t'day so she and Martin could git check ups, once Oi took 'er home Oi decided t' bring Martin out fer de day hopin' de air would make 'im feel better. But dat's pro'lly not important stuff." He slightly mused as he gave a nervous chuckle, hopeful that Black might not have been bored by the start of how his day began. "Let's see..." He looked down at Martin as the child now rested his head against the father's shoulder, his eyelids drooped some as he proved to show the need for a nap.

"When Martin an' Oi left we 'eaded fer de docks first, dat's when he wanted t' play wit' de toy. Next we went around t' city, only a few places where we could sit an' rest while he played wit' it. T'ere was Maiden's Cape as Martin likes t' 'ave picnics t'ere, den we visited de Cerulean Pier fer a while, and t'ere was a time where we stopped at de fountain o' Cascadin' Harmony as well. Oi uh..." He looked upwards then as he tried to remember the order in which the visits occurred, a sigh only parted his lips though as he looked a bit disappointed. "Oi really dun remember which o' t'ose we visited in order, just t'at out o' de several stops we made t'ose where places where de toy could be. It'd be a lil' model o' a ship like de ones at de docks, de fact it floats like 'em too really amuses de child." He added with a slight grin at the boy in his arms, hopeful that what he could provide would be enough to go on. "So, where d'ya wanna look first?"

by **Black Onyx** on October 20th, 2014, 10:27 am

Black’s brown gaze noted the way he avoided looking at her directly, well, he avoided looking at her altogether and a sigh fell upon her lips as he thanked her once again. Honestly, she never understood why people thanked her and Ricky had thanked her twice in one day. She hoped that he would stop thanking her, it might make her feel obligated to do more good things in the future. Good, bad? What was the difference really? Sometimes the lines blurred and more often than not, she saw them blur for even herself, questioning it at every turn. She quietly pulled out a carrot from the folds of her cloak, biting down upon the orange vegetable and chewing slowly as Ricky began to talk. Telion huh? The way he talked about this person, it sounded like a woman, His wife perhaps? She angled her head, her gaze watching the man for a moment as she bit into her carrot once again. So this woman was ill as well as Martin? Was there something going around that was easy to catch? At this thought she paused in her chewing to glance at the carrot before shaking her head. Na, she shouldn’t get it, at least she hoped not.

Once that thought had passed, she finished chewing and swallowed, her brown eyed gaze returning back to view the man who held his child securely within his arms. Although the child seemed to need to sleep as she watched the child’s head move to rest upon Ricky’s shoulder. She actually began to wonder just what it would be like to have a family of her own and she bit into her carrot once again quietly listening to the spoken words. It seemed to her like a lot of work to find just one toy that had more than likely been lost. Anyone could have picked it up by now, however, she had said that she would help look and help she would. She finished off her carrot, and her right hand lifted to gently press against her left arm, a wince crossing her features. Her own childhood had been cut short a little and she didn’t really pretend to actually know about what children would do. They were so care free really, only having to worry about their more basic of worries. Hunger, thirst and sleep. She envied them to a point, for as a kelvic, she grew up so fast and technically she was only three but she appeared to be around eighteen to the human eye.

The young equine drew in a long slow breath, before she exhaled. She had even started to steal just after the age of one when NiNi had picked her up, gave her some food to eat and showed her the way of the thief. A lifestyle that she had enjoyed when it had just been herself, no one to worry about hurting should something happen to her. That had all changed when she had met Jadlin and when Ricky had quite literally shown her that she could lose her life after she had stolen his pouch… It made her realize that even if she had died, she wouldn’t have lost Jadlin, but Jadlin would have lost her. Could she do that to him? Although she had continued stealing even after that night, sometimes, that very thought would plague her just as she reached out to take someone’s purse. It would stay her hand and that target would just keep walking until they left her line of sight. Even the sight of water made her feel a little ill, but she swallowed her pride if only to look at the sun as it rose and fell.

Blinking, she realized that her brown gaze had been staring at the child that was ready for a nap and she turned her gaze down the street as she realized that Ricky had stopped talking about the three locations that the two had stopped at since leaving the infirmary. He had said that it looked like a little ship, something that could be seen at the docks. The child also liked to float the little toy vessel a small lopsided smile gently curved her lips. It was cute in a way, but she could see how easily it could get lost or forgotten about as it floated upon a water’s surface. The thought of water made her slightly ill in the stomach again before she shook her head. A child could float a little toy off of the pier if the water was high enough, but she hardly doubted that that was where they could of lost it, considering that the child had small arms and would have had to of tossed it pretty hard into the ocean to float it. She wasn’t exactly sure as to why they would visit Maiden’s Cape, so she finally decided upon The Fountain. ”Well, a boy could easily float a vessel in the fountain, so perhaps we could check there.” At that, she began to walk towards the fountain, not checking to see if Ricky was following.

by **Ricky Maze** on October 25th, 2014, 7:03 am

"So y' t'ink it'll be at de fountain? Hm... Let's go check t'en." He nodded in agreement as it would make sense, granted that it could've very easily been floating about and left behind. They went onward in the direction that was more closer to the heart of Zeltiva, their destination being the fountain in which the location would soon come into view shortly after their walk. During that time Martin seemed to be heavily asleep at first until he seemed to notice they were on the move, and so he became aroused with the transition of different scenery as the people passed by. All during the walk Ricky spent the time thinking about what happened the other night, the complication he encountered when he'd practically gone over the line and threatened Black's own life. Such a thing was by far unlike him, yet he'd become so enraged at a sudden moment that he had lost control.

They arrived at the area and much to their surprise found a decent amount of activity there, granted it was a popular place among the locals to visit. "Well t'en, let's see if it's here." He finally broke the silence with a soft grin, hopeful that this was in fact the place the toy had been left behind. "Oi'll look 'round t' see if he might've dropped it, feel free t' check de fountain if ye t'ink it'll be t'ere." He told her with sincere glance directed in the process, no doubt she would be able to tell that he'd been thinking a lot on the way here. As he would look around and remember the steps he took here upon arriving and leaving, he would retrace them and in turn see that the toy hadn't just been dropped on the ground by Martin. While he did that Black was free to look elsewhere, and if she chose to look at the fountain then she wouldn't find nothing but water and a litter of gold, silver, and copper coins beneath the surface... however...

With a bit of examination to follow she would notice that the boat had managed to actually sink into the fountain, after floating about in the water too much it seemed somewhere in the cracks the toy collected enough to finally sink below within the fountains waters. Granted that she had found it though she'd nonetheless done both Ricky and his son a huge favor, all that would be left for her to do now is return the said toy to them as was the goal. She had indeed managed a job well done in picking which location to go to, and definitely earned the praise Ricky would have to give her in helping him recover the lost toy.

by **Black Onyx** on October 26th, 2014, 8:11 pm

Black had noticed that all through-out the walk, Ricky had been silent and she had wondered as to why that could be, except she then realized that he may be still thinking about the night that they had first met. While he had threatened her life, she had begun to realize that there was a soft spot to this man. However, it was probably reserved for those that he considered either family or a friend and she respected that. The only person that she had gotten close to was NiNi and Jadlin and she didn't let herself get close to anyone else, as she spent most of her time either stealing from them or recruiting them as informants. The boy seemed to be a little more active within their walk, his eyes looking at those going the opposite way. Once they had arrived at the fountain, she had been mildly surprised that there were so many people here and added the Fountain to her list of places to linger and steal from. The young equine was still a thief after all and any place that was bustling with people was a target to the woman.

She listened to Rick as he mentioned that he would check the ground around the Fountain and so she decided to look inside of it. The water reflected her pale image back at her, but the water reminded her of that night when it rained down upon her and a shiver slid down her spine. If he had known that she was Jadlin’s lover, would he have killed her just so then Jadlin would meet someone that he approved of? A sigh fell across her lips as her brown hues took in the Mizas upon the bottom of the fountain and she briefly wondered as to why she didn’t just steal the Mizas from the Fountain. It was an easy target, one would just have to wait for everyone to leave and they could simply take a dip into the water and gather up the coins. Honestly, she didn’t know much about the Fountain, mostly because she lacked the skill of reading and writing, plus she didn’t have anyone that was a friend and local to Zeltiva, that could tell her much about it. Besides, there seemed to be quite a lot of silver and copper coins within the water, although occasionally a gold one would wink up at her.

Finally her gaze fell upon what appeared to be a little boat and it had sunk underneath the surface to join the Mizas upon the bottom. She sighed and she seated herself on the lip of the Fountain to pull off her boots. Once she had done that she spun upon the lip and slipped her legs into the water, shivering at the cold water before she stood up. She noted a few glares shot her way, but she wasn’t worried, the woman always did whatever she wanted to anyway and she waded over towards the sunken little boat. Once she had reached it, she would bend down, her right hand delving into the water so then her fingers could grasp the little toy boat. When she had the boat in hand she straightened up, wincing as she did so. Lifting her hand, she looked at it at eye level, tipping the boat upside down once to drain the water from it. She turned to wade back to the lip of the Fountain calling out as she did so, ”I got it Ricky!” Finally she sat back down upon the lip, settling the boat into her lap until Ricky finally reached her, where she simply handed the toy over to him. ”It probably sank after floating for too long in the water.”

Completed The Things We Lose