Open Two Steps out of Place

[Arianthe Swansong]

14th of Fall, 512 A.V.
By the Eastern Docks, just past the Fish Market
Early Evening

Arianthe had hardly ever ventured out into the city, past the western district, and she had certainly never been out alone before her husband's death. As a child, her father had bought her a Kelvic as a companion who went with her everywhere and as a married woman, her husband had kept her close to locked up within the house, scared that she might try running away again.

She wandered along the docks, leaving the fish market behind her, looking out at the sea. The sun was setting down and it's rays were stretching langorously across the water, making it seem to dance and sparkle. For a minute, she stared transfixed, bewitched by all the colours the dusk lighting evoked that one could not normally see in the sea during the day. Arianthe sighed and looked around at her surroundings, realising with a jolt that she was lost.

She took a step back, accidentally into the path of a couple of sailors. They didn't look too flustered or irritated at being bumped into, quite the opposite, but Arianthe was thrown as one grabbed her arm with a laugh, as though steadying her to make sure she didn't fall. She murmured an apology and pulled away. The sailor merely shrugged his shoulders, winked and walked off followed a moment later by his friend.

Arianthe pulled her cloak closer around her, relieved that she had remembered to put on some gloves; it had turned rather chilly and it wouldn't be long before the sun set. When the sun set, she shouldn't be out alone here near the docks. Although she knew that many considered her naive, she wasn't stupid - she needed to find her way back to her university lodgings. If only she could find somebody to ask.

The sailors who had just passed seemed to be going somewhere with a fixed idea in mind, and there was no one around that she could see. With a sense of apprehension, and hoping that they had indeed been heading back towards the city centre, she walked off in the direction which they had taken.

After a couple of minutes walking, the sound of laughing, shouting and someone playing the harmonica reached her. She turned right and went down a little winding passageway that smelt of something like burning meat, cheap perfume and of the products used to clean clothes. Coming out onto a dirty street, Arianthe bit her lip, realising that if she knew what was good for her, she had to find a way out, but the dense blue smoke of the street billowing out of the doorways of many shady look bars was hurting her head, causing her to feel dizzy.

If she could only sit down for a minute and ignore the people making no attempt to hide the fact that they were staring at her. Placing a hand against her brow, she leant against a stone wall.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

You gotta love Zeltiva. To Gale, there was nothing better then walking along the streets and smelling all the wonderful scents. The fish, the dirty sailors, the lady's perfume, the salty sea. It all mixed together into a very...Interesting smell. It was like Kelp Beer. It was more of an acquired smell that you get use to after a while. Gale, having been here all of his life, learned to love it at a fairly early age. He learned to love a lot of things over the years. Walking and flowers were both definitely on the top of that list. If you observed the man long enough, you could certainly tell he enjoys a good walk and the sight of flowers. His sketchbook his full of different pictures of flowers and he walked every morning. The blonde got up really early, actually, to visit someone in the forest just outside the city. After he came back he would have a stroll around, resulting in a very long walk.

Gale had been out doing his thing, having a "free day" wher he can just relax and not worry. Or at least try not to. Just a day to attempt to clear his head. He was just on his way home and was walking along the streets and alleyways back to the Grotto. The murderer knew the streets like the back of his hand and had no trouble weaving around the people and buildings. He stayed clear from the alley next to the Kelp Bar, however. Last time he went there it didn't end so wellAnd not just for the sailor either.

The experience left Gale a little jumpy and fairly tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep at all since the experience last season. He was getting better howe- No, actually, he wan 't. He looked fatigued and not very well taken care of. His black shirt was just part of a dress, having been ripped at the waist and sleeves to make it a shirt. And it was itchy! How did girls even stand this stuff? Why did he have to steal this thing? Why couldn't it have been a black cloak or something? At least it wouldn't have been itchy.

Gale yawned and shook his head to try and wake himself up a little. He looked around him, slipping between two sailors who were walking and talking. The thief's blue eyes came upon a women leaning against a wall, hand on her brow. She didn't look so good. Not that Gale could say he looked any better.

"Are you okay, madam? You don't look very good." Gale questioned with a warm smile after making his way towards her. "You need any assistance?"

[Arianthe Swansong]

The smoke was really very heavy and, although there was a part of Arianthe that was rather happy with the spontaneous and gritty nature of the situation, she was still overcome by a sense of panic, and her head hurt, her temples throbbing ferociously. She was not sure if the smoke was the only cause, there was so much noice, women shouting at each other, their voices like the harsh cry of a raven, and the cheap perfume was heavy too and, with her small knowledge of perfumery, slightly offensive to her sense of scent.

"Are you okay, madam? You don't look very good." Arianthe's head swung around quickly, too quickly - it made her head spin more, at the unknown voice. She found herself looking at a slender young man with long-ish blond hair and it took her a moment to register what he was saying.

Although her natural instinct was to shake her head and insist that she was alright, she knew full well that she was not and if she had any sense, she would not pass up help from somebody who seemed sober with a sense of knowledge of his surroundings.

"You need any assistance?"

Arianthe didn't really talk to people unless she had to, but he didn't look like he was going to hurt her. After a moment, she nodded.

"I..." It struck her as soon as she had made the decision to speak, that she could think of nothing to say, "I... um... yes, thank you." she was surprised by how calm her voice sounded, certainly not conveying the panic that the rest of her body betrayed, "I think I am lost." She slowly breathed in and corrected herself with a little dismissive smile, "I am lost."

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Gale waited patiently for a response as she turned her head. It took her a moment to nod and give her response. She hesitated with her words as if speechless to see someone asking her if she needed help. But after doing so. she thanked him and then explained that she was lost.

Lost? That wouldn't be too hard to fix. Gale knew the layout of Zeltiva well and could easily guide just about anyone through the streets. Gale's smile remained and he nodded affirmatively.

"Where you heading? Any place in particular?" He questioned.

Gale outwardly snorted from the strong fumes. The smell was kind of thick here, wasn't it? Maybe that's why she didn't look so good. That could be solved as well. They just needed to get going to where she needed to go, and the sooner the better.

[Arianthe Swansong]

It struck her how little she was able to think coherently. She concentrated on answering the questions, biting her lip and frowning slightly.

"I was just looking at the sea. It's so beautiful at this time of day, with the colours and it looks so peaceful and calm, but it's getting late. I..." Arianthe broke off, half from the desire to, half because her throat was dry. Why was she telling him this? He had asked a simple question, and all she needed was to give a simple answer, not her life story, "I'd... like to head back to my University Accomodation. I just don't know where to go from here."

She did her best not to sound desperate, but she sort of was. It was now almost completely dark and, although she had always felt a natural affinity with the night, she did not like the idea of the sort of people she might encounter near this part of the docks if she stayed around much longer on her own.

"Can you help me?"

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Gale placed his hands on his hips, like they usually are. Biting her lip and frowning slightly made Gale's smile disappear faintly. Did she forget where she was going possibly? The blonde's hypothesis was disapproved when she responded with a short story of sorts.

Gale's smile grew detectably with delight when she talked about the ocean though. It wasn't often at all someone took time to watch it like he had all these years. And even more of a rarity when someone tells another about their observations. Gale enjoyed the beauty of things that some take for granted, such as the ocean. It impressed Gale, in an odd way, that she found the ocean's magnificence gorgeous just as he had. It had been so long since someone has told him of the ocean...

Gale's brief moment of oblivious thought was interrupted by her telling him she wanted to go to the University. Gale's smile went back to that friendly smile and he looked at her, after realizing he was looking towards the ground. "If anyone was going to be able to help you, it'd be me. I know the city well. It shouldn't be much of a problem." Gale told her, letting his hands fall off his hips. "It would be this way." Gale told her gesturing to their left, taking a few steps in that direction so he would be in front when they got moving.

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe looked over at him and to where he gestured, coincidentally quite the opposite to where she thought she should be going, then hesitantly nodded. He seemed confident and earnest, and she felt instinctively that she could do far worse than accept his help. After all, without it, she would now be heading off to the right, getting even more lost while the perfume drove her into a dizzy stupour.

"Alright. Thank you. I'd like that." she smiled.

More than anything, she'd like to leave this street. It was getting busier with the smell of perfume getting stronger, and louder with the crude language shocking her, making her flush. She took a couple of steps closer to the man, preparing to follow him, then she stopped, biting her lip pensively.

"How can I repay you for the service you're doing me?" she asked with a small smile, "I fear that my destination might be quite far from here and I would not want you to go out of your way for nothing."

Arianthe meant this - she hated being a nuisance to people. After all, she had spent five years of her life being reminded that if she was an inconvenience or caused irritation, she could expect hard punishment, and that sort of lesson was hard to rid yourself of.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Gale simply smile when she thanked him for his services. It wasn't a big deal for him, he wasn't going anywhere tonight after all. He turned around and was about to continue their way down the street when she asked how to repay him.

"Repay?" Gale turned to face her, basically doing a full three sixty,"Repay for what? Walking?" Gale chuckled,"There's nothing to repay. And anything worth repay was already paid for in a 'thank you.' " Gale responded with a warm smile. He looked at her for a moment, looking at her golden hairs and waves. Gale soon pulled his eyes back up to hers and continued, after outwardly snorting again,"Come on. This road is getting stuffy and a little cramped. We should probably leave before we get sucked into the crowd." He suggested. The blonde didn't know why it was so busy tonight, however. Usually the streets were relatively quiet when it got dark. At least it was when he met a red headed animator. Was there some sort of event tonight?

[Matthaus]

OOCI hope you don't mind the intrusion, if you do let me know! He wasn’t bored. He was antsy. He was unnerved and frustrated, of course no one would want to answer questions, especially not with children involved but nearly an entire day on the dock would stir up anyone’s nerves. His questions still milled about without any spec of answer and he was no better off than he had been days ago. Now he was just killing time and blowing off steam. In reality he was simply pacing around the docks, most likely lost, hungry and without anything of purpose having been accomplished. A heavy sigh slid past his lips, something he had found himself doing often in this city. Everything was still too different and too much was happening for him to wrap his head around properly. Perhaps he had jumped into too much at once but it would pay off. The boy would get what he needed out of the city. Soon as he figured out what it was. Rather than dawdle any longer Matthaus pulled his cloak around him tighter and meandered towards what he hoped was his dorm. He passed a couple and heard talk of the University and turned to face the young couple, instead seeing a semi-familiar face. One he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to see or not. Raising his hand in greeting he approached the pair, his gaze resting solely on…what was the name again? “Harry, wasn’t it? It’s a pleasure to see you again.” He nodded towards the young woman now, quickly taking up her measure. She looked every bit the lost child he was supposed to be, “And nice to meet you as well, my name is Kaelic.” Rather than wait for ‘Harry’ to oppose the idea he casually tried to keep pace with them, “We seem to be going in the same direction, I wondered if I could tag along?” Truthfully he would follow them to the dorm either way, the amount of people mixed with his poor sense of direction didn’t leave him wishing to wander around all night nor had he brought any of his supplies with him.

[Arianthe Swansong]

Arianthe looked up with a smile, returning his. She was not going to insist and was very happy that he told her there was no need... she did not like being in debt to people in any way, and she took this to mean that she was free of it. She was also glad to know that he shared her view that the road was stuffy and cramped - he might understand better her urge to get away from it as soon as possible.

"Yes, let's go."

It was at that moment that Arianthe's eyes settled on the small figure of a boy in a large cloak, who had just raised a hand in their direction. She turned around then bit her lip. Obviously, the boy was a friend of... it struck her that she should have asked his name but had not.
The child approached and, up close, he looked older than the small figure from afar might suggest. He might be twelve or thirteen.

“Harry, wasn’t it? It’s a pleasure to see you again. And nice to meet you as well, my name is Kaelic."

Arianthe nodded and smiled, happy that she now knew the name of her new acquaintance.

"I don't mind." she replied, then turned slightly to Harry. After all, the two did not seem on the warmest terms, and she knew nothing of the boy. It was up to him.