x Despite the angry yells of the man and the wails of pain of the woman, the archer did not seem to intend on going over there. Apparently he had no ambitions to stick around and be held responsible for his actions, for the arrow sticking out of the woman's leg. A new person who'd been watching concerned himself with the state of the redhead girl who had initiated this whole situation. She had apparently been going through a seizure of sorts, curled up in a ball and …. crying? Wow, who would have thought she was this unstable. One moment she'd been screaming and yelling, cursing even, and now she was crying.
The flash of the new guy transforming into a wolf luckily did not happen when the bat had been looking straight at him, for then he would have been blinded and vulnerable. Strangely enough, the Kelvic hadn't taken the time to strip, resulting in a wolf dressed in a human's clothes. Not that he hadn't seen something similar before -a panther- but he still found it strange. It had to be very uncomfortable. The archer picked up the sobbing woman, his sister, and started walking away, soon swallowed by the crowd, the sound of disciplined boots coming closer, the Shinya.
Brandon cursed internally, his face showing a snarl for a moment as he made a frustrated grunt. As long as Kaik was still approaching he couldn't get away, which was not good at all. The battle had been three on one, the doll not included, and probably if he'd be apprehended by the guards -or if all of them were- they would likely blame him for everything. If only that girl hadn't run into that roughneck- Where the hell was that guy anyway? Nowhere around here, it seemed. While everyone had been focusing on the two combatants, the roughneck had sneaked away, that was the logical explanation.
Then finally, after a rant about villains and his claim they were admirable -which might imply that the bat himself was admirable too- Kaik ceased his hostility, holding his doll back and stating this all was pointless. Brandon gladly accepted this chance to leave, turning back and walking away towards the crowd, halting however when the young human started yelling again. A glance was cast over his shoulder. “If you welcome death so much, why not take your own life? I cannot prevent that happening. I am not one to judge over life and death. One should live on for as long as they can. Your life is yours and yours alone. If you want to end it, no-one can stop you. They can judge your spirit, yes, but they cannot stop you. Once you truly long for death, you will seek it, and it will come to you.”
With that the thief turned his head back to the crowd and started walking again, only to stop after having taken one step, then once more glaring at the doll-maker. “And you are wrong. There is one thing you still have left, you are just too blind to see. Stop whining and move on. Cast away your sorrow and live, for your life is the one thing still within your possession, even though you seem eager to cast it away.” And then Brandon truly slipped into the crowd, pondering, wondering. What was it that had broken this man so thoroughly that he was constantly drowning in his own sorrow. The grief and suffering seen within his eyes had been the real deal, and even though his words had been useful advice, Brandon could not help but wondering if Kaik actually could recover. As he was now he wouldn't, that was for sure. The doll was probably his only form of companionship, his only friend and the only thing he trusted. Once the man was forced to dispose of it he could truly start moving on, for it was his doll that kept him chained to his sorrow. The thief shook his head slightly, surprised by his own thoughts. Was he actually worried about the man's sanity? Or did he just want the man to recover and stop making the abominations? The latter, no doubt...
Since the multitude of the audience had now formed a barrier around the wounded woman, it was easy to get to a less crowded part of the plaza, or it should have been. Instead, the bat found himself stopped by a couple Shinya, only barely hiding his frustration. That annoying doll-maker and his stubbornness had delayed his escape for too long!
“Frustrated are we?” spoke one, “do you by any chance happen to be the one who made this situation escalate? ” Brandon frowned, shaking his head, wondering how in Yshul's name the guard could possibly know- “Confusion, that's interesting.” Wait a chime! Auristics? Gods be damned! “And now rage, this guy seems suspicious enough to me.” The other Shinya nodded, taking over. “So, were you involved in any way there?”
“Yes.” I'll have to be careful, they can probably find out if I'm lying. Calm down Brandon, keep it calm and tell the truth and nothing will happen. Possibly. If they don't ask any strange questions.
“A bit of fear.”
“Did you fight?”
“Yes. Self defense. Someone attacked, threatening to kill me.” Keep calm Brandon, that's the way, you can do this!
“What caused this attack?”
“...”
“Did you stab someone? A little girl perhaps?”
“I stabbed no-one.” It was the truth, the doll was not a person, it was wood. Stabbing wood never had gotten anyone arrested, right?
“Anxiety. However, there is no fresh blood clinging to his aura. There's a stale bit coming from one of the daggers hidden underneath his coat, but it's from seasons ago.”
“Hmmm. Well then, where did that old stain come from?”
“Is that relevant?”
“No, not for this case.”
A younger guard came running towards the trio; an acolyte, judging by his robes. “Sirs! I have news! It seems there was a Kelvic who'd stabbed a girl, sir!”
“Is that so? Who told you about that?”
“A tall Inarta carrying his sister, sir!”
Brandon facepalmed. “And you let him walk away? Might I inform you that that Inarta is the one who shot the poor woman who's crippled right there?”
“Well, since there's no fresh blood sullying this Kelvic's aura, I suppose you got tricked. Did the Inarta carry a bow?”
“Yes sir! He said it was the symbol of their people, sir!”
The two Shinya sighed. “I wonder just how you managed to become an acolyte. This naivety is unprecedented in our order. Not even a new initiate would be tricked by such an obvious lie.”
“For Zintila's sake, didn't we order you to bring every suspicious person to us? What do you think you are doing just letting one slip away? This renders us splitting up useless.”
“I am terribly sorry sirs!” the young one apologized with a deep bow.
“Go after him already!” It didn't have to be said twice, the acolyte hurried off, the second Shinya following, probably to ensure he didn't screw up again. “Eh... Can I go now?” Brandon asked a little hesitantly as the one leftover guard rubbed the side of his face muttering something about foolish Acolytes and proper training. “Yes, you're free to go.”
Brandon too did not have to be told twice.
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