[Flashback] A Chance Encounter (Julian)

[Renaria]

Spring 507AV, Day 12 [GUEST STORYTELLING] Permissions Link Morning. The sun was rising slowly in the endless expanse of clear blue, throwing golden rays down into the city of Syliras. It was busy. The streets were filled with people going about their daily tasks, never acknowledging one another. A city of strangers. Only a single, lone figure seemed to be unhurried. Leaning back against a wall, a raven haired individual was quietly observing the rush of people. His icy blue gaze was impassive, his arms folded neatly over his chest. Julian was waiting for something, but what it was he did not know. He had some strange feeling, perhaps expectance or forewarning. Whatever it was it had been hanging over his head for a while, whether he had chosen to acknowledge it or not. A sudden pressure would be felt at his side, almost a snapping, a releasing of something. Moving a hand to investigate, he would find that his purse was not where he had left it.If he was quick Julian would have time to see the crowds parting to his right, and a flash of brunette hair as a woman ran from him. A Thief.

[Julian]

It was cool that morning, and Julian was still working out a hangover from the previous night. Exhausted from his morning errands, and still haunted by that incessant fog in his head and an ache behind his eyes, taking a moment to stand in the sunlight had felt like a good idea. He folded his arms, the early Spring sunlight warming the front of his clothing while he watched the Syliras crowds pass him by. Normally, he'd be caught in some self indulgent monologue, giving trite commentary to himself about the meaningless daily tedium that all of these people were busying themseves with. This morning, he felt a little too sick to think, and he simply focused on keeping his breathing steady and working out his headache. Julian was half expecting someone to walk up to him and ask what was wrong, or criticize him for blocking the roadways. Perhaps a Syliran Knight would accuse him of something tiresome and he could spend the rest of his morning arguing away a jail sentence. He couldn't be absolutely certain anything would actually happen, but he felt very noticeable. A bit of conversation anyway would help take his mind off— The blur that rushed passed him was nearly enough to knock him over, more out of surprise than force. Bewildered, Julian stumbled sideways, pressing his palm into the wall behind him for balance. What the... Irked, Julian gritted his teeth and looked around for the culprit. It was probably some unruly child or a messenger in a hurry, or... Julian patted his hip. Great. His purse was missing. He swore, but the Knights could handle this. At least that's what he thought until he saw the image of a woman dart into the crowds. A woman? He tilted his head as he began to briskly walk after her. What was she trying to accomplish, playing with fire like this? Julian decided not to bring the Knights into this: he could handle a mere woman perfectly fine on his own. Pushing through the crowds and emerging on the other side of the road, he looked around for her again, his eyes flitting over the alleyways. "You're not going to get far!" he warned. Julian grew up in this city. He knew it well. The was an equally good chance that this pretty little thief did too, but he had wit and cunning on his side. It would only be a small challenge to find her. He hadn't met a girl yet who'd been able to outsmart him. She'd be no exception.

[Renaria]

[GUEST STORYTELLING] She wove quickly between the bodies crowding the pathways. She hoped that the man was oblivious to his missing possessions - the purse that was now clutched in her left hand. She doubted it though, she had been too rough. She cursed herself, and ducked under someone's outstretched arm. If she was lucky, he would have been too slow to see her run from him. She risked a glance back over her shoulder to check. It was something she had learnt not to do, but she couldn't resist it this time. Sure enough, the crowds were appearing to part a little way back. She cursed again and increased her pace, knocking an innocent passersby out of her path. She chose an alleyway at random and ducked around its corner. She leant against the wall for a brief second, taking a gulp of air. Her eyes quickly scanned her new area. If she was quick she might be able to jump and grab the low wall a few steps away. If she managed that then she could be up and on the roof in seconds, far out of the man's reach. It all depended on how fast this man was, and if he had seen the back of her head as she tore into the alley. She decided to go for it. She darted to the opposite side and jumped, reaching with her right hand to grasp the top of the wall. Her feet scrambled for grip and she tried to shift into a position where she could haul herself up without dropping the purse. This was costing her precious seconds - she kept flinching every time footsteps passed by. She just prayed that he had missed the alley she had selected.

[Julian]

The distant sound of a soft thud, and a voice crying out, echoed from one of the alleys. Julian turned his head to see the image of an older woman stumble to the ground. He squinted. You're reckless, girl. Drawing in a breath, he bolted down in that direction, straight past the woman as if he never even saw her. Julian was too busy to help her up, and anyway, she had arms and legs of her own. Reaching the end of the alleyway, he skidded to a stop, taking in the dizzying amount of turns she could have taken. His hangover, too, had more momentum than his body and Julian pitched forward, feeling suddenly nauseous. As he stumbled, he caught the image of a brunette head of hair pass out of view. Julian shook his head, his mouth already dry from the onset of exhaustion. He hadn't run like this since he was a boy. Steeling himself and holding a breath in his chest, he ran into the alley where he'd last seen her. A stitch in his side had already appeared - was he so out of shape? Grunting at his body's apparent unwillingness to cooperate with his ambitions, he ran anyway, promising himself a hot meal later as a reward. If he got his money back from that wretch, anyway. Julian saw her then, pulling herself up by her slender arms as she struggled to scramble over a wall. Willing his legs to move faster, he sprinted up to the wall before she could fall out of sight. Coming within reach, Julian darted forward and grabbed at the back of her calf. If she didn't squirm away, he would forcefully pull her downward, taking one of her arms immediately so she didn't lose her balance and fall to the ground. With a jerk, he spun her around, and both of his hands moved to pin her upper arms against her body. Panting in visible exhaustion, he pressed her to the wall, locking his gray-blue eyes with hers. Julian waited a moment to speak to that his voice wouldn't be in breathy gasps. He glowered at her, but not with a look of accusatory aggression. Instead, it was something closer to disbelieving incredulity. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shook his head. "Do you think you'll get away with this?"

[Renaria]

[GUEST STORYTELLING] Her right foot finally caught a rough part of the wall and she put her weight into it. She shifted her arms, still careful not to drop the purse, and managed to find a decent position to haul herself up from. Spurred on by this, she concentrated and leant forwards to push down onto the wall. But that was when a hand closed around her calf. She had been so absorbed in trying to get up, that she had completely forgotten that she was actually running away. She clung to the wall for as long as she could, but the man was too strong and she fumbled her grip. The ground approached alarmingly fast, though she never met it since she found herself pinned to the wall she had just tried to scale. He was clearly out of breath, while she was perfectly fine. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to say something, trying to show him that she would not be intimidated. "I'm taking your purse." What kind of question was that supposed to be? Still her eyebrow was raised and she tried to twist her arm out of his grip. She narrowed her eyes at him. "If that petching wall hadn't been so..." She broke yet another of her own rules and looked directly into his eyes for the first time. Something was eerily familiar about them. She silently cursed herself and tried to wrench her arm out again. If she succeeded, she could grab the tiny dagger hidden by her hip. That, if anything would make the man back off.

[Julian]

The moment their eyes crossed, something sparked at the back of Julian's mind, but he wasn't sure what it was. Her gentle blue irises held him for half a moment as he realized that past the dust and dirt on her cheeks and nose, and the silky brown hair that framed her angry face, the woman really was quite lovely. She struggled in his grip, breaking him out of his pointless stupor and reminding him to tighten his grip and hold her still. "Yes, clearly," Julian answered, exasperation more than fatigue lingering in his voice as he finally caught his breath. The woman thief hadn't even broken a sweat. Silently he envied her fitness and agility, and made some empty promise to himself to go running once a day. "But what I don't understand is why. Look at—" He was cut short as she struggled again, this time managing to break free. Julian caught the sight of glinting metal in the corner of his eye and jumped backward before she had a chance to use that blade on him. He held both of his hands in the air, an open gesture of surrender. The thief looked angry, but Julian gave her no more space. She was too gorgeous to be a murderer. He didn't really believe she'd attack him with that weapon. "Fine, fine, you've made your point." Julian paused a moment, then continued before she could realized he had inadvertently told a pun. "But I'm going to chase you down again if you don't answer my question. What are you doing? The Knights are within earshot. All I have to do is yell, and they'll come running happy to chop off your hands. Or whatever it is they'd do." So he was taking an altruistic route. It was annoying, and pretentious, but it was the first thing that he'd thought of to say to keep the girl running away. "Is that what you want? Look at you. You're much too pretty to be getting yourself in this kind of trouble." Julian looked down at his stolen purse. It was heavy with gold-rimmed mizas that had promised to buy him dinner this evening. He grimaced. "Do you need money that badly?"

[Renaria]

[GUEST STORYTELLING] Adrenaline fueled by success surged through her as her arm came free of the mans grip. With one quick movement she had grabbed the blade at her hip and flicked it round, pointing it right at the man. It had worked. He leapt backwards and she let a smile twitch at the corner of her mouth. She stayed where she was as he raised his hands, still holding the small dagger up. Her eyes flashed dangerously as he threatened her with the Knights. What was she doing? She had already answered that, and truthfully too. She was simply taking his purse. It was just what she did. She stole things. It made her feel...not better that was for sure. There was nothing that could make her feel better. It was more that she was good at it, when she took something she felt useful. It was for all the wrong reasons of course, but she didn't care. She blinked at the man, slightly taken aback. "Did he just slip a compliment into a threat?" Her eyes were still narrowed though, full of suspicion. He was tricking her, she was sure of it. She was too busy trying to find a suitable reply, something to stop him from shouting to the Knights, that she didn't get a chance to answer before he spoke again. She looked down at the purse in her hand and shrugged one shoulder. "Dammit why is he making me think like this? Why couldn't you have just run you stupid girl." She returned her gaze to the man, making sure that it was still steely before she spoke. "Do I look like I have a job?" She didn't pause to wait for a reply. "I can't feed myself without a job, so yes, I need money." It was the truth, in a way. She had a family, "Family, yeah right," which in turn meant that she had somewhere to stay. But she had long deduced that sleeping in a corner of the street was nicer than the place she was supposed to call home. She could probably find more food there too. She had lowered the dagger while she was thinking, and upon returning her gaze to the man, she gripped it tighter but kept it low. Why was she being so petching honest? What made this one different?