Closed The Reunion [Eilea]

[Kane]

Summer 10 513 It was a bright, warm day in Wind Reach. There were no clouds in the sky and the sun beat down on those below. The Courtyard of the Sky was filled with people milling about, looking at different wares and chatting amongst themselves. Children ran about and Yasi gathered around anything that interested them. Kane snorted. There were so many petchin’ people. Such was the result of wandering out on Market Day he supposed. Still, he had items that he would like to buy, so he had no choice but to venture out. Mainly, he had wanted to get some clothes. His old ones were starting to wear out, so some new ones were in order. He was approaching the stall, when he spots two men down the way. It was odd to see other humans in Wind Reach. Not that it was impossible or anything, just notable. They were standing rather awkwardly, almost as if they were searching for something. Or, from the way the scanned the crowds, someone. Wait... Oh Eyris. He knew those two. Okay, stay calm. He’d just have to quietly slip away-”Hey!! You!” They noticed him. Oh no no no no no no no! He had to hide. Now. Frantically, he searched the area for a place to hide. There! An opening between two stalls. Sprinting, Kane slipped between them before running towards the pathway leading out of the courtyard, roughly pushing through the crowds of people. He could hear yelling behind him; those guys were definitely wanted to catch him. As he neared the path, he spotted a cart. Well, he’d hidden behind one before, might as well try again. He practically threw himself behind it as he heard the men approaching. Breathing heavily, he listened as they spoke to each other, unsure of where he’d gone. Wait, was that other breathing right next to him. Almost afraid to look, he turned his head and almost jumped out of his skin to see Eilea sitting right next to him. She sat curled in on herself, her bow clutched in her hands in front of her. Kane blinked owlishly at her. “Wh-what are you doing here?!”

[Eilea]

For once, Eilea's carving duties were mild for the day. She had only been asked to work on some touch ups for the signs in a few stalls. That was okay with her. She moved between the small jobs quickly, carving and adding oil to each one. This was an easy job and didn't take too much time. But as she moved from one particular stall to another, she took notice of two men, dressed in nice, survival wear. The Vantha's eyes narrowed. They looked familiar. They looked... like... HEr heart began to race. Her eyes began to change colors. Panic. Reoccurring panic. Gray. They were two of the men from that hunt. The ones with the necklaces. The ones that tried to kill her. Eilea ran her hand threw her hair. Being short, and cropped, she knew she looked different, but if they noticed her eyes, especially in this mood, they'd know. Being Vantha, her eyes were very recognizable in different situations. This one, would be no different. She moved quickly, looking around to find a place to hide and plan what to do next. The girl found a nearby cart and slid behind it, her bow in hand, her quiver to her side and she quickly pulled out an arrow. 'What do I do? Morwen, what do I do? Whatever that necklace was... I wasn't supposed to see it. Please, please help me...' As if Morwen was answering her prayer, Kane suddenly appeared to her side, sitting next to her. He seemed worried. It much have been because she looked so nervous. She avoided making eye contact and looked around. "I'm in trouble." She whispered. At that moment one of the men had caught up with her. He must of spotted her, or it was possible he had spotted Kane kneeling behind a random cart. Eilea looked up at the man, her eyes still gray. Her heart raced within her chest. "There's two of them!" The man spoke in a deep, harsh voice. "Grab them." Without a second thought, Eilea took to her feet, held her bow towards the man, aimed and arrow and shot. Her nervousness much have made her tremble, as it only grazed the man's arm. The second man was a few feet away. 'Oh no, they think Kane is involved. Darn it.' The Vantha reached blindly towards her friend, took ahold of his shirt. "Come on!" She spoke in Nari, as the man with the bleeding arm winced back in pain. "Let's get out of here!" Once Eilea knew Kane would follow, she took off.

[Kane]

Well, that outburst probably hadn’t been the best idea. His pursuers were sure to have heard it. A head leaned past the side of the cart. “There’s two of them! Grab them.” Well shyke. Eilea responded immediately, jumping to her feet and aiming at the man closest to her with her bow and arrow. Kane noticed the terrible shaking of her arms; she must have been terrified. As the man stepped closer, she let loose the arrow. It barely grazed his arm, but it gave them enough room to escape. Kane followed after Eilea without question. Getting caught was the last thing on his agenda. Running through the streets of Wind Reach with Eilea was the last thing Kane had expected to do that day. But, they were currently being chased by two very bad people from Kane’s past, so it was kind of couldn’t be helped. I only wish I hadn’t accidentally dragged her into this. He cringed. They may not have always seen eye to eye, but he’d grown to like the Vantha girl. Kane shook his head. This wasn’t the time to regret. It was the time to act. Grabbing Eilea’s arm, he pulled her down a sharp turn to the left followed by several other sharp turns, hoping to lose the two men chasing them in the process. This wasn’t the first time he was grateful for his memorization of the layout of Wind Reach, and he doubted it’d be the last. As they ran, he began to get a weird feeling. Almost... as if he’d done this before? But that couldn’t be right, he’d only met Eilea here in the city and the last time he’d run from these men had been seasons ago with.... Wait! Just as they turned a corner, Kane screeched to a halt and whipped around to face Eilea. “That was you!”

[Eilea]

The whole situation broke Eilea's heart. If Kane got hurt because of her, she'd never forgive herself. She let him take the lead, as he seemed to know where to go, and how to get around better than she did. So she followed very carefully, keeping close, moving swiftly. Without warning, Kane took ahold of her arm. He pulled her down a stretch she had never gone before. She moved with him, running, her heart pounding against her ears. This felt too familiar. Running with someone. Running from danger. It was exactly like a situation she had found herself in previously. It was as if... as if... 'I've done this before!' She began to slow her steps, remembering the man she had helped. The man that had helped her. That stranger. That stranger who she thought highly of and always regretted never meeting up with before... That man. And then Kane spun to face her. "That was you!" He exclaimed. Her eyes turned a dark, deep blue, the same color they had before when she had done her final battle action during their first encounter. Passion filled her words as she slowly said, "You're that man." She blinked twice, hearing the men that were following them get closer. Her eyes began to dull to their panicked silver gray tone. "Kane..." She couldn't find the right words. She had so much respect for that stranger. So much respect. And to find that, that stranger, was one of the people she had grown to care about more than anyone else in her life, gave everything a completely different meaning. Echoing footsteps. Eilea grabbed Kane's hand, and led him further in the direction they had started. But there was a problem. It was a dead end. Eilea turned, pushed Kane behind her, held the bow up, pulled another arrow, and waited. She was still so nervous though... so nervous. "Stay back!" She warned, her voice surprisingly steady. "I will kill you each if you come any closer." "I highly doubt that." They moved quicker than Eilea had expected. She fired a shot, but it flew between them. They ran forward towards the two, anger in their eyes, their movements, in everything about them. Eilea fumbled around trying to grab another arrow.

[Kane]

So Eilea recognized him as well. That was... great! He had always been a little surprised with how much he had regretted never being able to meet back up with that girl. After how they’d worked together back then, he’d had the utmost amount of respect for her and there had always been this feeling like they could have been great friends. And, as he looked at the girl in front of him, apparently that was true. Just as he was about to speak, he heard footsteps coming their way. Eilea, determination in her eyes, grabbed his hand and began to run once again. Wait, didn’t this way lead to... A dead end. His blood ran cold. His companion instantly went into action, readying an arrow and drawing her bow. As the men approached, she called for them to stay back. She was trying to protect him. Kane narrowed his eyes. There had to be a way out of here! His eyes searched the area around them, looking for any possible escape. There was none. Shyke! Wait. He still had those. Subtly, he reached into the pocket of his coat. Luckily, the mens’ attention were all centered on Eilea, so he could act without notice. He waited. Waited for one of them to get just close enough. As soon as they were within a foot of his friend, he threw the contents of a vial of acid in the man’s face. Their attacker grabbed his face and screamed, “Auuuugh!!” Apparently it hurt. Kane smirked. Good. Quickly, as they didn’t have time to waste, he grabbed Eilea’s wrist. “C’mon!” And he ran. Ran as quickly as his legs could carry him. He had a plan. Eventually, they reached a familiar area. The Underground Forest, which they had gotten lost in once before. Now, though not perfect, they had a good understanding of the layout of the forest. Turning back to Eilea, he called “We can lose them in here!” And into the forest they went.

[Eilea]

Just when Eilea feared for her life, as well as Kane's, her friend, her best friend, took action. He threw some sort of liquid at the man. And there was a cry, a painful cry. He grabbed at his face. Relief passed over the Vantha, but then... then she realized what had just happened. "Oh my goodness... You just... You..." Eilea smiled an approving smile at Kane, before he took her wrist and they began to run again. "You're such a badass!" Suddenly, the fear she had been feeling, the nervousness, was gone. It was filled with a feeling she hadn't felt before, A form a pride, perhaps. She looked at Kane as they moved, her eyes a brilliant violet-red, a color that showed true fondness for her friend. It was also a color that had never been seen in her eyes before. For she was proud, proud to call him her friend. She was amazed, grateful even, to have found, the stranger she had looked up to, all those seasons. And into the Underground Forest they went. Near the entrance, Eilea pulled back, out of Kane's grasp. "Hey, I have an idea. I'll let them get me." She handed over bow, and her bag of arrows. "Use this." She made sure he had a good grip on them. "When they grab me, I'll scream, I'll cry as loud as I possibly can and hopefully it'll attract those nasty bats we ran into before." She felt her hands shaking when she finally let go. "I'll be the bait this time." As Kane moved, Eilea turned, to face the two men as they came into view. She couldn't believe everything that had happened, so quickly. The girl stepped back, remembering the pendant they had, had before. The firey bird. If she had never seen it, she would have never run into Kane in the first place. She never would have found her way to Wind Reach, she never would have done, what she knew she needed to do. The men moved towards her quickly. "Looks like we found her, but where's her partner?" The other one shrugged. "Grab her." And he moved quickly, even though Eilea backed up nonetheless. When his hand wrapped around her arm, the let out a loud scream, one that literally hurt her vocals cords as she let it out. The man that held onto her, pulled something from his side, a large knife, and pulled her towards him in a jerking manner, forceful, enough to make Eilea lose her voice for a second. She saw the glint of the knife and let out a small gasp. Deep inside, she knew that if this was it, somehow, things were good. Things were how they were supposed to be.

[Kane]

Kane had to admit, he was really concerned about Eilea. Especially with this plan of hers. But despite that, it was a good plan. So, he went along with it. Silently, he crept around the trees in an attempt to get into a better position to attack. The men were closing in on Eilea. Reaching into the quiver, he pulled out an arrow and went to ready it on the bow. He immediately dropped the arrow. Kane stared down at the arrow and then to the bow. Syke, I don’t know how to use this petchin’ thing! A scream jolted his attention back to the clearing in front of him. Ouch. Well, that was definitely loud enough to attract some bats. In fact, Kane thought he could see some now. Good, now let’s sick em on those bastards. Looking back to Eilea, he saw something which gave him a tick of panic. One of the men had grabbed her, and had a knife ready. Moving quickly and without much thought, Kane surged forward and hit the man holding her arm over the back of his head with all his might. The attacker stumbled giving him enough time to grab his friend’s arm and pull her out of danger. "C'mon Birdie, let's go!" And they were running once again. Screams from behind prompted him to look back. The two men had a swarm of three bats hanging around them. That should keep them busy for a while. Now all they had to do was find a good place to hide for a while, and they’d be safe.

[Eilea]

Eilea was so thankful, so impressed, and so happy when Kane came to her rescue, hitting the man that held her with her own bow. She made point to take the bow and arrows from Kane. when he called her "Birdie", the Vantha smiled to herself. 'This is so strange. All of this has happened before. This has happened before.' She glanced back as they ran out of the underground forest. The two men were being attacked by the large bats and crying out for help. Eilea hesitated for a second, but then remembered what they had tried to do to her, as well as Kane when she had stumbled into them previously, that one Fall afternoon. "Let's head back to the Courtyard!" Eilea suggested. As they moved, the girl couldn't hold it in anymore... "Kane! I can't believe it. I seriously can't! You're the one that I ran into. I looked up to you so much. We worked so well together. I trusted you and I didn't even know you." She began to slow her pace. "I mean, we fought together, we had each other's back. And somehow... somehow, we ran into each other again, without even knowing it." Eilea smiled and stopped him, spun him to face her and looked him in the eyes. "I am so happy and I can't even explain it. This has been like reliving that day, but I know it's you." She took his hand and squeezed it, but not in a romantic way, in a friendly, understanding way. For she understood better now. The attraction she had for him, the desire, the want. It was misplaced. Somehow she must have sensed who he was, but didn't realize it. "And to think this all started because of a silly fiery bird pendant." They were close to the Market Place. Eilea could hear the people just ahead. "Come on, maybe we can make a true escape in there." The Vantha moved close and without waiting for permission, stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She spoke in Vani, knowing he'd understand,. He'd been around her enough to have picked that up. She then looked back, towards where they had come from. "But what do you suggest we do?" Anything he'd suggest, she'd listen to and follow. She trusted him. He was THAT stranger. He was her friend. He was Kane.

[Kane]

The further they ran from the forest, the safer Kane began to feel. Of course, they weren’t out of the metaphorical woods yet, but they were almost there. As they ran, Eilea began to speak. She spoke of how she’d looked up to him, how she’d trusted him, and how they’d worked together so well in a bad situation. She stopped and spun him around. Then told him how happy she was to see him again, to have him as her friend. Kane could only stare at her. He just didn’t know what to say. All he did know at the moment, was that he felt the same. He could remember it, the immense respect he’d felt for her as they’d fought side by side. The friendship he had hoped to forge with her afterwards. The one he’d thought he’d lost. But all that didn’t matter now. Now they were friends. And Kane was pretty sure that they would continue to be so for a long while. For once, he actually smiled when she kissed his cheek. She stepped back, asking what they should do now. He stared at her a tick. It was overwhelming. Before he could even begin to answer, he move forward, enveloping her in a hug. It felt like it had been so long since he’d had a true friend that wasn’t a dog. After letting go, he blushed slightly at some of the stares his actions had garnered. Jeez, does everyone in this city just stare at people? Clearing his throat, he answered her. “We’ll probably just want to stay off the streets for a while. And if you have to go out, hide your face.” Kane shuffled his feet awkwardly. “And... If you ever need help with anything, you can come to me.” He shot her a smile, before jerking his head to the side. A silent way of saying they should head in that direction. And together, they walked off, a new understanding of each other in their minds.

[Phoenix]

Kane

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Running	2
Observation	3
Socialization	2

•	Lores Earned
•	Market Day: Annoying
•	Finding Eilea in the most unusual of places.
•	Remembering Kane from all those years ago
•	Into the Underground Forest
•	Remembering Eilea from all those years ago
•	A pocket full of Acid
•	Eilea: A true friend

Eilea

Award

Skill	XP Earned
Weapon (Bow)	2
Observation	3
Leadership	2

•	Lores Earned
•	Mysterious Necklace: Danger
•	Dragging Kane into trouble
•	Remembering Kane from all those years ago
•	Into the Underground Forest
•	Using herself as bait
•	Kane: What she always wanted

The Order of the Phoenix

OH MY GOD THEY'RE BFFLs BECAUSE OF ME! Yessssss... I love this haha. It was great seeing it all come back around and after I read it through once, I read them side by side like you suggested. This is just awesome! *dance*

As for XP, I tried to give you guys what I could. If you think I missed anything important, let me know. I got wrapped up in the story and stopped looking for skill points

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.