Flashback [The Rearing Stallion]Waiting For a Song[Orion Michaels]

[Amelia Cross]

[13th day of summer 511.a.v.]
[First Ring]
[The Rearing Stallion]
[Evening]

The reason behind staying in a city you despised, was usually common sense, you had nowhere to go. In other cases you just didn’t have the gold, or the wilds seemed to be so frightening, that you still chose to stay, rather than risk being eaten…or worse. That’s all reasonable when you get to the bottom of it. Now, why would someone return to a city they despised more than the cold nights in the wilds on damp ground, facings wild animals and fighting for meals? This was a question the young girl asked herself each passing moment.

Each day she woke up with nothing but this type of questions to bother her young mind. She woke to the same old questions that haunted her daily and she still didn’t manage to find answers to them. After all, this was the second time she had returned to Syliras, while all her heart and mind has ever wanted to do was get away, escape to Ravok. In this city, nothing seemed to be as pleasing to the girl as there. To Amelia, everything Syliras was actually good in, Ravok was better…above all else, in Ravok she was someone, a shadows of someone, but she was. Here, you just didn’t exist until you were a knight or somehow associated with them. So she just didn’t understand, why did she chose to return…for the second time.

Since the girl actually had little to no work to do this day, she had too much time to herself, nobody to distract her from these questions and she just couldn’t help but feel down. She couldn’t even manage to pull out a believable fake smile on her face as her mother wished to pull the girl into another one of those awkward ‘mother & daughter’ conversations. It just felt too hard, to fake the way you feel…especially in front of someone you loved.

Silence toke over between them eventually. Amelia couldn’t take it ”I’m going out” she simply announced, getting up from her seat and leaving their apartment. She didn’t wait for her mother to answer there was no need in that. Of course, leaving the apartment was not exactly ‘going out’ in the matter Amelia would prefer, as her understanding of ‘going out’ was leaving, and she would not be leaving anytime soon.

Now, just like one of the many people of Syliras, she just aimlessly wondered along the streets and between the alleyways. Sylirs was a busy and crowded city, but all of them were so distant. Amelia was willing to bet her life, that they didn’t even know the people they saw each day…passing by. Its like Syliras was a city of shadows, and as Amelia wondered between them all, she became one of them…only reason for her to stand out amongst these shades of grey, would be the way her pale white skin contrasted with the long, black braid and black dress she wore. And even so, she doubted that anyone would bother to notice her.

How long had she followed the flow of the people, back and forth? She had no idea really, time seemed to be irrelevant and meaningless when your mind is full of puzzles of your own soul. But it seemed, that her own soul seemed to have more control over the situation than she might think, because while her mind was in question…the soul led her to the one place in this city where she felt at home in: The Rearing Stallion.

Funny, how a woman of just the age of eighteen, would find a tavern as her own sanctuary, but it was true. In no other place in this city did she feel as free and welcomed as here. She assumed it had something to do with the way it reminded her of the Silver Sliver Tavern of Ravok, where she really met the true beauty of music and dance. The Stalion would never come close to that place, but it was close…she knew she couldn’t sing the songs of Ravok here, phrase the god of chaos and betrayal, there would be no Jeb behind the bar to growl at her…but at the bottom of it all, in the hearth of this building, it was still a tavern. Where people were free, where she was not Amelia Cross, a woman torn between two cities that where at a constant cold war and with a mind full of chaos of her own personal and family life that was falling apart, here she was Black Bird; A fortuneteller with a passion for singing and a desire to dance, that had come here every since her first return from Ravok.

There was little hesitation before she entered, her blood colored lips finally blooming in a smile. Her posture was once more full of confidence and grace. She was home. Amelia let her gaze slide over the public present, she could spot a few faces that were familiar to her, but nothing more than singing or dancing really tied their familiarity, therefore she had little interest to join any of them. She walked pass them all, greeting the occasional man with a smile as he caught her eye. The girl was in desperate need of hearing music.

[Orion Michaels]

oocSorry for the wait!

It was another day in the back of the Rearing Stallion. Home sweet home, or so he called it. Life was in a rut, a constant repeat of the same day over and over. Wake up, go to the tavern, work all day so he had enough coin to drink himself into a stupor the entire night. Rinse. Repeat.

He couldn’t call it exhausting. The routine was important to keep him in control. Left to his own devices he’d fallen apart more than a few times. The Stallion was his foundation for the time being, as loathe as he was to admit it. Smoky, loud, and the booze free flowing. Patrons came and went, and the orders for food were ceaseless. While he rarely found himself bored, it was exhausting, dirty work, but it kept him focused, and that was all he could ask for.

”Another special, Orion,” called one of the other cooks as he frantically moved about the kitchen trying to collect supplies for their preparation. The man was frantic and wild, and that made Orion grateful the head chef was out that day. ‘I have better things to do than waste my days around you worthless currs’, he had said before storming out of the tavern. No one could guess what was going through the man’s thoughts, but no one could deny the man could cool.

”Alright. This is my last one, then. My shift’s over after this,” Orion replied, setting about preparing a plate. It was a simple dish, and easy to produce. The cook grabbed a pair of tongs and fished a potato out of the boiling water beside him, setting it center on the plate. Steam hissed at the air, escaping from the freshly cooked spud. Orion wasted no time in grabbing a masher and setting to what he needed to do. Mash. The tool made short work of the food, a mix of white and brown smushed in the middle of the plate. Orion then moved over to the woodstove across the kitchen, plate in his hand. Awaiting him on that side was a pot full of gravy made from the beef he’d be adding next. Copious amounts of gravy were ladled onto the plate, and then with a quick turn, to a pan, the blue eyed man retrieved a thin slice of beef which he placed on top of the mountain of mush.

”And there we have it,” Orion said, setting the food down. It would be collected when the servers came back to make another round. ”Best of luck, it’s a madhouse out there. As for me, I’m going to have to go get a drink.” Flashing a grin, Orion disappeared out of the doors into the main part of the tavern.

Once there he was almost taken aback at how busy the Stallion was. It never ceased to amaze him how popular a place it was, in spite of his cooking. He’d have to fight for a seat that night it seemed.

Carefully did the cook move, sliding between patrons and servers alike, trying to bump into anyone or cause a ruckus. He just needed a seat from which he would drink, that was all. At least he thought that’s what he needed until he made his way around a rather plump man.

It was then he saw her.

Sliding through the crowd in much the same way he was, her pale skin and ruby red lips made her stand out much more than him. His cheeks twitched momentarily as he fought of the beginnings of a smile. With blue eyes momentarily fixated on this stranger, Orion made his through the tavern to try and head her off. When he got there he’d attempt to brush shoulders with her, not so forceful as to knock her back, but enough to gently announce his presence.

He wouldn’t apologize, and most of all, he wouldn’t stop.

Instead he shot her glance over his shoulder, his piercing crystal-like eyes resting on hers for a tick before turning to go on their way. In their wake, the hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips before disappearing behind his rotating head leaving only his mop of hair to see while he walked onwards.

Now to find a chair and see what I can make happen.

He hoped neither tasks would be particularly difficult.

[Amelia Cross]

Nearly frowning, she kept on walking between the people and tables in circles as if she was lost, holding the flowing fabric of her dress in her hands to keep any men from stepping on it. With every passing moment, it seemed as the chances of her finding an empty table to sit at had faded completely and the Cross just decided to head towards the bar. The route she had chosen was not particularly the emptiest so she ended up bumping into people quite a lot, meeting the gazes of some, muttering an apology to others. None of the encounters seemed to stick around in her mind as the face she had seen disappeared from her mind just as fast as it had appeared.

Nearing her destination, she was presented with one more of these encounters, but this time, something felt different. She felt that someone had brushed against her, but not in the usual tavern manner of ‘get out of my way’ or ‘I’m too drunk to walk straight’...this felt different, and out of pure curiosity she turned her gaze to seek out the person in who’s simple actions she had put so much thought in.

Weather it was the hand of fate, luck or coincidence in which Amelia once more was putting too much meaning behind, was not quite clear, but she was sure that she had spotted the man. Their eyes seemed to lock for a brief moment before the man turned away and kept going. Amelia on the other hand, stood there trying to follow through the message. Somewhere in her mind was a voice that rang clear, go after him. While the voice Amelia actually listened to, was the one that spoke with a calm tone ‘you are over thinking this’ and shock the encounter off as something overly casual.

Turning away and finally reaching the bar, she didn’t rush to be served as there were people here who actually came for food and Amelia saw that a bit more important than a drink. While she waited, she looked around once more ”My, my...now aren’t you getting caught up in this” she smirked at herself, realizing that the image of the stranger was blurring, but the eyes that would haunt her for a few more bells for sure was clear.

Finally someone came to serve her, the girl however was highly windrawn, not even bothering to see who the person was she just muttered out ”Silver Sliver” and only when she was confronted with a confused ‘we don’t have that’ did the fortune teller realize she had just asked for the specialty of Jeb’s Tavern. ”I mean an ale” ”that’s official, I miss the old man and his drinks” but she didn’t let herself linger on the loss of Ravok, because she knew she’d be coming back, sooner of latter, instead she enjoyed the ale that had arrived quite quickly.

Everything seemed to be falling into place, except the music, which was far too slow for the girls liking and left her just stuck there with nothing but her drink to entertain her. Well that and people watching. Looking over the tavern and observing how men argued about something by a table not that far from where she was. Some tables further was a company of jolly men, sharing stories so loudly they even seemed to shadow the performers. There were always people to see in a tavern, but for some reason she found her black eyes back on the same stranger again and again. By the third time she gave up and just admitted it, she was a sucker for blue eyes. Not that it meant much when you had ignored the chance you had of following the man.

If his eyes were to meet hers that clearly were observing him, she would not turn away, instead she would offer a smile and even if he had found company by that moment, she’d take her chances and with a light wave of her pale fingers invite him over to chat.




oocsorry that it toke me so long, December is a wild moth around my area, especially when its you graduation year...