The Midnight Hour (Open)

[Ket]

71st of Fall , 510 AV Ket sighed, matching the wind with it’s wistfulness as it brushed past him. It’s soothing caress was lost on him this night and instead brought to mind the coming of winter’s icy clutch upon the land. It was hard to tell, even by the bright light of the starry sky above, but the was already evident in the falling of the leaves and the hollow whistles of trees already without them. Ket loved this time of, always had. But recently the onset of winter began to fill him with a sense of dread as his money slowly dwindled and whatever rank cell he chose to reside in grew farther from the warmth of the castle’s depths and closer to the cold, drafty outer cells. Thinking on his most recent residence and how horribly cold it was even in at the current temperatures Ket shook his head sadly. Lifting his head to look up at the clear, night sky Ket forced himself out of his dour mood. It was easy to feel sad, but far harder to not be. So Ket did what he always did to put himself out of a bad mood. Walking to a nearby trading courtyard, empty now at the late hour except for a few discarded things, Ket sat down at the edge of the well located at it’s centre. There he looked around and took great care to notice everything around him, trying his best to take in everything at once and keep it all present in his mind. He failed miserably at first, as he always did. But as time passed and the night grew older an inner peace settled over him. It became easier each time to focus on other things than on his own troublesome thoughts. The forgotten doll that lay in dust not a few feet from him, the glinting of silver and gold lined wishes at the bottom of the well in the starry night, even the faint lettering of a discarded poem did not escape his notice as Ket sat there, absorbing everything. Thinking very little, just observing. Only the whisperings of the wind kept him company for now.

[Stitch]

Stronger. He started by running. It had become his new routine for the month. After he put the children to bed, he waited for a few moments to make sure they were all asleep, and then he went running. He knew it would effect him, the lack of sleep. He knew that the children might wake and wonder where he had vanished to, but Fentya was there for them. This was for their own good. All of this jogging and bodybuilding, it was so that he could tone his body. He needed to increase his power, and he needed to do it fast. Who knew what would come next? He had been shown that anyone could attack his children anytime they wanted, and that they barely needed a motive. What was their motive that last time? They had simply wanted some book. A book. The thought made his legs churn faster. He ducked his head down low and turned it up a notch, feeling the familiar burning sensation beginning its path through his muscles. It would only start out as a really minor stinging sensation, but he knew it would get worse. He had to pace himself. Checking to make sure his breathing was even and steady, he lowered his speed a bit, attempting to keep it at a jog. Churn your arms and churn your legs, but keep them at a comfortable pace. Don't push yourself. Once you become completely comfortable at one pace, then move it up to the next. That is what he had heard. He followed those instructions, ignoring the dull throbbing in his legs. The blind man ran on, toward the place where he usually continued his exercise routine. Bodybuilding was still on the list, and perhaps a bit of Flux practice, if he had the time. He wasn't so sure how many hours were left in the night. It was cold and dark, and it had been for quite a bit now. The icy wind was a boon on his quickly heating skin, but he knew it wouldn't last for long. Soon, his body heat would rise to a point where the cold air didn't even matter. He entered the empty trading courtyard. The blind man was quick to notice the one other person there, yet did not quite let on that he was aware of the presence. Stitch himself was a bit of an odd sight, so he decided to simply give the man time to absorb what he was about to see. Stitch was tall and slim, looking like a fairly normal young man. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy britches, and some simple boots on his pumping feet. None of this was that odd. It was the bandages around his eyes that were weird, as they signaled that he was quite blind. At least, that was the most common thing that it should signal. But why, or how, was a blind man running around like he could see everything? Auristics. That was how. Even now Stitch was using his magic on the man, closely observing him. The blind man himself was slowly jogging around the courtyard, going in slow but steady circles. His arms and legs were starting to burn even more, but his mind wasn't on them. He would know when it was time to move on to the next series of workouts. For now, he wanted to focus on this new person it town. At least he thought he was new. The Aura was one he had never seen before, and he was getting to a point where he could remember most Auras after one meeting. The man was a very light blue, like a gentle morning sky. It was perhaps the most peaceful Aura that Stitch had ever laid eyes on. The man was still, and his Aura was just as still. The blue was soft, and instantly eased just a bit of the ache that was traveling through Stitch's arms and legs. It was something that drew Stitch in, sent him spiralling into his own peaceful place, and made him lose all track of time. It was only several minutes later that pain caused Stitch to snap back into reality, and realize that he had ran quite a few laps. Stitch slowly stopped, and stood there for a moment, trying to keep his panting somewhat silent. He wasn't so sure what the man was doing, but he didn't want to disturb him too much. Was his presence alone bothering the man? After a minute of stretching and resting, Stitch dropped into push-ups, about two dozen feet in front of the man. He did the exercises at a steady pace, now focusing on bodybuilding. His muscles were still lightly burning, but the minute of rest before had done wonders. He also kept his attentions on the Aura of the man in front of him, wondering if he could manage to use it to his benefit. It was extremely relaxing, and every time he simply glanced at it, it managed to slightly ease his aching bones. Losing himself in the steady series of push-ups, using his arms to pump his sweating body up and down, he found himself speaking out to the stranger in almost a whisper. "Hello, milord. Is this one's presence interrupting whatever you may be doing, or bothering you in any way?" He didn't know why he was striking up a conversation with the man. He did know what he was doing might be rude, and he wanted to make sure the man wasn't being bothered. But that wasn't it. He supposed it was curiousity. He was curious about the owner of such a peaceful Aura.

[Ket]

Ket heard the man coming long before he was consciously aware of the visitor’s presence. The padding of the man’s boots against the stones making up the roadway, the sharp inhale and exhale of the man’s breath as his body drew ever closer. Every footfall noted in the stillness of the night by. It was strange to Ket, this growing feeling he had, almost as if he could feel the man approaching; even though he was nowhere within sight yet. He tried focusing on the approaching man, but found it hard to do so. Almost as if he was too far stretched out around him to focus on any one thing in particular. In his current mood Ket would have quite liked to just slip away the moment he knew someone was coming but it was too hard to do that, he felt too, disconnected, to move. So he sat there, merely observing as the presence of the man grew closer and at last entered the courtyard. His head ignored his commands to turn and follow the blind runner, as he now saw, as he ran around the courtyard in a steady pace. As he was, literally, outside his mind at the moment Ket did the mental equivalent of staring at the newcomer. Ket had no experience with this sort of thing and with a mental shrug assumed he had fallen asleep, observing someone with his mind (which is what he was doing as best as he could nail it) was such a ridiculous idea that he never considered that the runner might be observing him in the same way. He pondered his situation for the remaining amount of time that the blind runner completed his laps and stopped in front of him to begin his push-ups and spoke to him. Caught by surprise Ket’s consciousness fell back into himself and he was once again left with only his physical senses. Blinking rapidly at the onset of a headache Ket pressed a palm against his temple and grimaced. He was like that for a few moments, eyes clamped close against the ache, until he remembered the stranger who had spoken to me. Eyes snapping open he looked at the man “What?-Oh, no. I was just. . . just-sitting here.” It was odd, Ket quite like people and never minded engaging with them but he also liked his alone time, which this man had clearly just interrupted. Yet he wasn’t upset about it, he knew in the back of his mind from when he had been watching the runner, that he had meant no harm. In fact, Ket felt the need to explain what he had just felt to this man. “In fact, I want to apologize. I had been, -well, this will sound weird but bear with me. I had been ‘watching’ you before you came in. I didn’t really mean it. I was,” and here Ket raised his arms wide “kinda ‘out’ there. If you know what I mean.”

[Stitch]

As Stitch continued his push-ups, he wondered if the curious newcomer had even noticed his soft words. Perhaps he had just spoken a little too softly for the peaceful man to hear, or perhaps the reason the man was so peaceful was because he was sleeping. Stitch wasn't so sure. He briefly considered speaking up, but instead, he just kept at the push-ups. He had already felt rude interrupting whatever the man might be meditating on, and he didn't want to add to the slightly uncomfortable feeling in his gut. His turned his eyes inward, studying his own bright blue Aura, noticing the subtle changes in it. He had once been as peaceful as this man, and even had managed to glow with soft strands of pure gold. He supposed that the gold had been the happiness in his soul, while the still blue had been peace. Now though, the soft blue blankets of color were lightly churning, disturbed by the darkest of his inner thoughts. He knew the fire at the Orphanage had deeply affected him, and it was obvious, even to his own biased eyes. He would like to think he had managed to stand strong throughout the whole thing, but it was simply not so. He couldn't deny the rolling waves of blue in his Aura, nor could he simply not see the flickering strands of gold. His happiness was fading, and his inner peace had been ruffled. That was for sure. Starting to feel the familiar burn in his arms and chest once more, Stitch switched his mentality back to the push-ups, just in time to hear the man speak. Ah, the gentleman had been awake, and it didn't seem as if Stitch was bothering him. The blind orphanage owner couldn't sense any dishonesty in his Aura, so he took the man's denial of Stitch being any kind of bother as a truth. A slight smile curved his lips, as Stitch was quite pleased he hadn't interrupted anything. He somehow liked the man already, and he would be sad if their first encounter had started off because of an annoyance. Slowly bringing his push-ups to a pause, Stitch awkwardly moved to a sitting position, cocking his head at the stranger, listening to his next words. Out there? Stitch slowly shook his head, that same smile on his lips, although it was now a bit amused. "This one is not quite sure what you mean sir, although this one doesn't mind you were watching this one before this one came in." Stitch slowly cocked his head in the other direction, still keeping the angle focused on the man in front of him, and Ket might suddenly get the impression that the blind man was looking at him. "There is no reason to apologize at all. This one has been looking at you for quite some time too." Stitch shrugged a bit, as if dismissing the conversation, and then leaned forward. "This one is called Stitch, milord. It is a pleasure. This one is the owner of the Welcome Home, milord may have heard of it?" He offered his hand for a moment, long enough for Ket to give it a firm shake, if he wished. Stitch then fell back, hands behind his head, and began a series of quick sit-ups. His breathing was obviously a bit ragged, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. He had caught another wind when speaking to Ket, and now was using that energy to continue working his body. This was his favorite part of the chest work-out. He could feel his abs developing almost, and he could certainly feel the pulsing energy coursing through his agitated muscles. It was a nice sensation, to know that he was trimming their softness down, and developing them into quite the hardened stomach. He was slowly beginning to enjoy this exercise of his. "If this one might ask, milord... Have you been in Syliras long? This one has never noticed you. No offense intended."

[Ket]

"Stitch, you say?" Ket asked as he leaned forward long enough to shake his hand firmly then released, as it seemed the man was still intent on his exercises. "It is good to meet you as well." he opened his mouth to continue but was suddenly intrigued by what Stitch had meant by him watching as well. As far as he could tell with the white bandages, the man could not see. Realizing he was being rude he continued hastily, hoping Stitch had not noticed the slight pause. "I have heard of the Welcome Home, in fact. I'm sorry about what happened. " he leaned over now, adopting a posture he wasn't necessarily proud of but it was comfortable. Chin on his fist and elbow on his knee as he leaned over he idly watched the newcomer begin his sit-ups. He reflected back to when he had the heard news about the fire, merely by word of mouth in the bowels of the castle but he had heard of it nonetheless. In response to Stitch's last question, Ket continued. "I've lived in Syliras all my life. Never even been outside the wall, actually." He laughed a bit then, always amused by how ridiculous it sounded when he said that. Truth was, he had never even had time to think about things outside the gate. He was too busy just trying to stay alive and put food in his mouth with odd jobs. What was strange was how often he had been asked the very same question in as short as a week. It was making Ket think about what was really out there. It was such an interesting question that his eyes trailed off and he began to stare outwards, towards the direction of the gate. Wondering.

[Stitch]

Stitch heard the apology of the man, and gave him a quick nod, signaling his thanks. He had no desire to discuss what had happened back then, nor did he want to recall any of it. He did appreciate how short the man had been though, as if he had somehow instinctively known it wasn't a topic he should linger on for long. Stitch almost wanted to thank him more, just for that small show of politeness. No words came to his lips though, and he continued to simply work out his body, training himself with those quick sit-ups. His hands came out from behind his head, crossing on his chest, and he continued the exercise in that pose. His stomach was starting to burn more and more, and his breath was once again starting to come short. He took this as a signal that he was about to reach the end of this particular set of repetitions, and gradually began to slow his hurried pace. He distantly noticed that Ket had sat up fully, and was now watching him. Pondering if he was being rude once more, wondering if the man was hoping for some form of conversation, Stitch sat fully up. He didn't go back down this time, and instead merely sat there, cocking his head at his new friend. He pulled his attention from his exercises just in time to catch the last few words Ket spoke, and then curiously watched as the man seemed to drift off. His soft blue Aura once more settled into utter peacefulness, blessing Stitch with the same serenity. They both sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Stitch not ready to interrupt the man's peacefulness. Instead, he found himself simply studying the man again, checking out his Aura. He wanted to try a bit of a trick, while he still had some time to do it. Focusing a intently, Stitch molded his mind in with that of the other Aura, trying to become one with it. He really wanted to scoot forward a little bit, and actually put himself within the range of the Aura, and see if he could "feel" it. That might help with a reading. That might be a little awkward though, and in the back of his mind, he felt like movement would disturb the statue in front of him. So Stitch fought back the urge to reach forward and dip fingers into the Aura, and merely let his gaze thoroughly dissect it. The Aura was beautifully simple, and Stitch found himself getting lost in that same peacefulness. Stillness and peace was what his body needed right now, so he gorged on it, focusing more and more on the Aura. He let himself get caught up in all the emotions the Aura contained, and let those same emotions wash deep within his weary heart. When he ran, he ran to forget. And now that he was sitting still, he needed something else to help him forget. A smile washed over his features as he sat there with the man, both of them simply existing for the moment. Existing in the silence, in the stillness, in the peacefulness. Faintly, Stitch realized that the man's attention wasn't simply out in the night clouds. It was instead focused in a particular direction. The blind man lightly turned his head a bit, scanning his Auristic gaze in that same direction, trying to follow the strands of attention to where they might go. Upon trying to figure out this minor mystery, he reflected back to the words the man had spoken just seconds ago, and then realized he had still not responded. Blushing a bit, flustered by how easily his mind got away from him, Stitch managed to spurt out a response. "This one goes jogging outside the city walls, every so often. Milord would be most welcome to come along, if Milord would like. It is a short jog through the Bronze Wood, and up the Suvan Sea. It is quite the scenic route, if you might like to join this one some day." Speaking of the jog drew memories of a recent adventure to Stitch's mind, and he quickly spoke again, trying to keep himself in the peaceful state of mind he had managed to gain. He didn't want to remember horrible things. Not now. Not around this man. He simply spit out a random fact, wanting to keep the conversation going. "This one is a martial artist. That is why this one works out so much. Forgive this if this exercise was rude, since this one did do it right around and in front of you."

[Ket]

Ket's attention snapped back to the man, and he grinned sheepishly at him, realizing he was being rude by just drifting off. Slipping back into his customary position of chin on hand again without even thinking, he sighed softly. On hearing the first part of Stitch's comment he opened his eyes wide, surprised. He knew it was common for people to go outside the walls, and was sure it happened quite often for all sorts of people. He had just never met any of them, as his usual company was occupied by folk who were too busy making it to tommorow to care much about adventure. Thoughts dwelling on the unknown and what lay outside started to make Ket feel restless, and here he was talking to a man that HAD been outside. Quite often in fact. Even if it was just jogging it was an exciting prospect to the sheltered man, whose only view of outside was the night sky in courtyards such as this. Standing up now rather quickly Ket paced back and forth a few feet, thinking quickly. It was an insane idea and one he had never considered before since he had never had the luxury of not working until very recently. In fact that was why he was here tonight, he was, in a manner of speaking, free to do as he pleased. What extraordinary luck it was, he thought, that he would run into Stitch. Ket had always felt out of place among the people he spent his company with but despite Stitch's uniqueness Ket was already more comfortable with him than he was with anyone else. Stitch's last words jarred Ket out of his thoughts and he stopped abruptly, facing Stitch. Shaking his head vigorously, just as eager to not offend Stitch as Stitch was to not offend him he waved his arms about. Acting more himself. "No, no! Not at all. I'll let you know if you ever offend me. Probably with a punch to the face, eh?" He laughed then, squatting down next to Stitch so they were at eye-level. He continued "Although if you're a martial artist you'd probably make me eat mud. I've only ever been in a few good bar fights, and those not without some serious bruising." he winced in remembered pain at a particularly bad fight that had happened a few years ago, he didn't remember much of it, just the pain. All he did remember was a table being thrown at him, maybe that was why. Focusing back on Stitch however Ket leaned in, interested. "But you say you've been outside? How is it, doesn't it feel weird not to have walls around you? And what about predators? I've heard they are a problem, and that you should never travel alone." Ket's green eyes peered intently at Stitch's face, heart racing as his mind filled with thoughts of outside. He felt more alive than he had for years and it was only at the mere thought of leaving. So strange, he thought for at least the hundredth time in the past 5 minutes, that I had never thought about it before.

[Stitch]

The blind man was visibly relieved to hear that he hadn't offended the man, and he expressed his pleasure with a soft smile, and a quick nod. He remained quite as Ket continued to speak, giving the orphanage owner a little insight on his new friend. So the man had experience in bar fights? Stitch chuckled, shaking his head lightly, blushing lightly at the way Ket was giving him praise. "This one isn't actually that skilled. This one has fought quite a few fighters though, and one of the most challenging of opponents was one who had only fought in a 'few bars'. This one is sure you would be just as much of a challenge." Stitch smiled fondly, cocking his head off to the side, assuming something of the look that Ket had expressed while he was daydreaming. "Rhuryc was his name. This one doesn't know if you have met the man. He works at the Blacksmith though, and he would be an excellent partner to get into a bar fight with." Stitch chuckled once more, suddenly cocking his head back toward Ket. Leaning forward, he gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "All in all, don't short sell yourself, milord. This one is sure you are simply being modest." He quietly listened to Ket's questions, and the man would slowly notice a bit of a rare occurrence. Stitch's bright and happy face was slowly shifting, darkening slightly as Ket asked about the outside world. Stitch wasn't looking particularly angry. That wasn't it at all. He was looking disturbed, perhaps. Or depressed. There were bad memories attached to the wildlands, and he was recalling them this very instant. Before the dark look had spread too far across his features though, Stitch had snapped back into the real world, and was quickly trying to push that former smile back on his lips. Even though he was quick to put on a casual facade, his words made it obvious that he had experiences his own troubles in the Wildlands. His tone was serious. Extremely serious. "The outside world is a dangerous place, Milord. This one jogs out there, but he keeps quite close to Syliras. This one went a little off route once, deep into the wood... There are bandits out there. And that is the least of your worries. If milord ever does decide to explore outside those walls, then please stay on the paths. Take several people with you. Stay close to these walls, if you can." He leaned closer to Ket, and suddenly, the man might feel as if he had quite the intense gaze on him. He did. Stitch was focusing every bit of his Auristic vision on the fellow, watching his Aura carefully, making sure he listened to each and every word Stitch spoke. "This is not a friendly world we live in, milord. We are lucky to live here, in a civilized, protected place. Out there? The world is in ruins, milord. It shows." Stitch paused, judging to see if the man was taking his warning to heart. Distantly, he noticed that he had caught his breath. It would be time to start working out again quite soon.

[Stitch]

For as excited as the man had gotten, he had once more fallen back to his position, and had apparently dozed off during Stitch's rather urgent message. The blind man sighed, unable to stop a smile from crossing his face, reaching out to give the man a gentle pat on the head. Jumping up from his position, he took of again, jogging one final lap back to the Welcome Home. He would save more exercise for later. The sleeping stranger had made him tired.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Stitch   Skills Skill Gain Info. Auristics 4 Very Descriptive; Great Experimenting With Auras Running 3 Very Descriptive Body Building 2 --   Lore Auristics: Recognizing Emotion in Auras (Basic) Ket   Skills Skill Gain Info. Observation 1 1   Lore Owner of the Orphanage (Syliras)

Additional CommentsSorry these people bailed on you Stitch. I absolutely love how much detail you put into everything in this one. I hope these points help you out a bit.