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[Fehn]

86th of Spring 515 AV
The Azure Market

The city of Lhavit was alive. From what Fehn could tell, everyone in the city had a purpose and direction. People were running about, doing their varying chores and professions. The market was a torrent of noise as people chattered and both sold and bought goods. Unlike Wind Reach, there was a multitude of races and ethnicity. He could distinguish people of several human backgrounds, and some people who were not quite human at all. Wind Reach was not a stranger to different races, but visitors were seldom few.

Wind Reach could be busy at times, but it never felt like this to Fehn. There is a certain feeling you get from being overwhelmed in an unknown city and Fehn had that feeling. It may have been culture shock: witnessing the different architecture, society structure, and the array of languages. Although, the feeling may have been alienation. Fehn felt alone. He was never overly social on Mt. Skyinarta, but there he at least felt that he belonged. In this busy city where everyone seemed to have somewhere to go, Fehn was left watching the crowds enviously, wanting for purpose.

The most overwhelming thing about the city was the skyglass. Everything in Lhavit seemed to be made of glass. Sure, Wind Reach creates and uses its fair share of glass, just not to the extent that Lhavit does. Most of the spires and houses were made of the translucent glass, stretching as tall and wide as any buildings he had seen. Even the ground he walked on seemed to be skyglass more often than not. It was his choice to leave Wind Reach, and though he did not regret it, he pondered if it was really wise to come to Lhavit. A few days ago he had spent his 19th birthday traveling. He might have been happy if he was home that day to get a few extra birthday greetings, even if he wouldn't have done anything overly special. Home. Fehn was unsure he still understood the concept of home. Wind Reach was where he grew up, but he was starting to despise the place and its whole social structure. Was Lhavit and its chaos any better? The difficulty of this question along with the sun's gleam shining off of all the skyglass began to give Fehn a headache, so he sat along the edge of an unknown building and closed his eyes.

[Lisana]

The market was a place to look at assorted wares whether one was looking to buy, or simply observing. For Lisana, it was the latter. She couldn't afford any of the glorious, glittering wares on display, so she simply observed the goings-on.

The skyglass was glorious, reflective, and bright, as always. It was a beauty that had became normal for the girl, and didn't enjoy it as much as visitors to the city might. Either way, it was a beauty that was no longer exceptional to her, and she didn't give it a second glance.

But people-watching was even more enjoyable. It was fun to see the various types of people that would pass through, hinting at their origins in their silent manner.

This time, the distraction was a man. His eyes were closed, and he seemed almost... sad. Lisana's first instinct was to ignore the man. She didn't need to deal with him, and lacked interest in other people's problems, at the moment. But the girl also felt bad, if she ignored him. Liz approached the man, tapping him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, are you okay?"

Light colored hair adorned an unexceptional face, and something told Lisana the man wasn't from Lhavit. Whether it was the way he held himself, in an almost confused, lost manner, or his clothing, she wasn't sure. But it was probably the clothing.

OOCSorry, it's a bit short.

[Fehn]

Fehn was so distracted by his own thoughts that he never even heard anyone approaching. A tap on his shoulder woke him from his reverie.

“Excuse me, are you okay?” an unknown voice said.

Fehn flicked open his eyes, startled by the touch.

Looking down at him were two bright eyes, one green and one blue. They belonged to a young Inartan woman. No, not Inartan, Fehn thought. She seemed a lot taller than most Inartan women Fehn knew, and although she had the fiery hair, her features suggested she was probably a mixed-blood. She had a somewhat intimidating look about her. She was beautiful without a doubt, but it wasn't an innocent beauty. Her face had a placid expression and Fehn couldn't tell if she was genuinely interested or not.

Fehn decided that the girl had to be interested because there seemed to be no other reason to approach someone like him with so little to contribute to the area. After a brief moment, he realized that he was staring.

Fehn blushed and looked down to regain his wits. “I'm sorry,” he said. “You just startled me.”

The question itself caught him a little off guard. He didn't feel okay, but how could he answer that question. He couldn't just tell her that he ran away from home and felt alone. That would sound too ridiculous, even though it was probably the most honest answer.

“I'm just a little new here. A bit dazzled by the bright lights,” he said with a half smile. He hoped he didn't sound too pathetic. Not that he wanted to impress the girl, but image did matter.

[Lisana]

The stranger seemed a bit taken aback by Lisana's appearance, staring for a moment. Yet again, it was probably the eyes. She gave a soft smile to the man, who seemed to be blushing a bit. "It's quite alright," the girl replied, "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"Well, welcome to Lhavit." It could've been expected that someone would be a bit awestruck by the glimmering city. The bright lights had become a normality for her, but she could understand that they may come as a shock to visitors. "You'll get used to it," Lisana replied to the man, although even she, on the brightest days, had to squint her eyes. But the girl rarely gave it a second thought. He looked to be about her age, but was a bit shorter. The girl began to wonder where he was from, and voiced her question to the man. "Where did you travel from?"

OOCEep! It's short. Really short. I'm sorry.

[Fehn]

The young woman smiled and and said a greeting.

Fehn was quite pleased that the woman didn't seem taken aback by his first awkward reaction. Her casual smile was reassuring and she didn't seem to mind his staring. She was probably used to it, Fehn thought. Because of the eyes. Not that her looks would draw less attention. Fehn relaxed a significant amount.

If the first question caught Fehn off guard, then the next question had him staggering.

“Where did you travel from?” the red-haired woman asked.

It wasn't the question itself that troubled him, it was the questions that would follow it. He didn't feel up to talking about his reasons for leaving Wind Reach. That would lead to an unpleasant conversation that would make his bad day even worse.

Fehn wondered if the stranger was just being polite in asking where he was from or if she really had no idea. The look on her face told him that she was genuinely curious. Fehn thought his distinct Wind Reach clothing would be a dead giveaway, not to mention his red-blonde hair. He came to the conclusion that the woman mustn't have done much traveling and was unfamiliar with other cultures' common traits. He thought he could use this to his advantage to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“I'll give you two guesses at where I'm from,” he said with a smile. “And the first one doesn't count.”
It was a bit of a gamble, but the worst that could happen was another awkward encounter with a stranger: one more to his long list. “If you guess right I'll tell you where I'm from and answer any other questions, but if you guess wrong you have to show me around the city, since you seem more familiar with it than I.”

He knew his proposition would startle the stranger a little at first, but these kind of things went one of two ways: either she would think him strange for overstepping himself, or she would succumb to his charm and play along.

“...unless you're busy,” he added.

OOC: Don't worry about short posts. If anything, it speeds things up

[Lisana]

Lisana's attempt at making conversation seemed to shock the stranger, and he evidently felt a bit uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to share it.

He then continued, coming up with a sort of game. Lisana was quite surprised, intending only to make conversation. Jeez. But the girl decided to play along. She quietly studied the man's face, and clothing. Liz wished she was more knowledgable about other regions and cities.

The girl was absolutely clueless, so she merely flung a guess at the man. "Um... Alvadas?" She was sure it was most likely wrong, and opted to make another effort. "Or... maybe--" the girl trailed off, trying to think. This man had a hint of red in his hair, leading to another guess being flung at him. "Wind Reach?"

[Fehn]

Fehn

As Fehn assumed, the young woman was startled by his strange response. She was taken aback somewhat, but decided to play along anyway. The woman seemed unsure as she pondered for a moment.

“Alvadas?” she asked. It wasn't much of a question, since she didn't seem to wait for an answer. She instead seemed to study Fehn, looking for clues. Fehn was a little surprised by this guess and a smile crept onto his face.

The stranger then said what Fehn hoping she would not. Wind Reach. Fehn's face fell a little and his headache started to return.

“Well... You guessed it,” he said. “I'm from Wind Reach.” He instantly regretted his offer. He was almost pleased to have someone to talk to and he had messed it up. The woman would probably leave due to his awkwardness or stay and ask the questions Fehn feared. “As I said, you can ask me anything you'd like to ask,” he said with a fake smile. “But just to warn you, I'm not partial to blind dates.” Over the years Fehn acquired the uncanny tendency to not take anything seriously. This is how he found out that making a simple joke was way of brightening what may have been a dark conversation.

[Lisana]

Lisana wasn't sure what she thought of this stranger's game. But she was surprised when she guessed his origin.

"Well, to start, what's your name?" It was a reasonable question, and she couldn't think of much else to ask.

"And why are you so defensive about your past?"

This game, filled with questions, began to Intrigue Lisana. She figured she was in for a good story, and opted to keep conversing with this strange man.

[Fehn]

Fehn

Of all the things she could ask...

“My name is Fehn,” he said. “And yours?”

“And as for my past...” Fehn was practically sick of this conversation already. He doubted the stranger even cared why he was defensive about his past. She probably just saw that he was uncomfortable speaking of it. “When I was in Wind Reach, I was trained as an assassin,” Fehn lied. “My most recent job was to kill one of the elite political leaders.” The woman seemed like she might be the gullible type and Fehn would probably nevver see her again, so why not spin a ridiculous tale? “It was all going fine, but I was careless and some witnesses saw my face. So I had no choice but to flee the city. Now here I am in the grand city of the stars, a wanted man trying to escape his past.” He said this last bit with a flourish. “I normally wouldn't tell this story to people, but you did guess where I was from and I am true to my word." In a best case scenario the woman would believe him and leave him alone out of fear.

[Lisana]

"I'm Lisana. It's nice to meet you, Fehn." He continued by voicing a tale that was fascinating as much as it was terrifying. "I can see why you wouldn't tell it, but it was quite interesting." Not a single speck of fear crossed the redhead's mind as she listened. There was no reason to fear Fehn. He wasn't suddenly going to attack her.

"I just have one last question." The girl paused. "Why are you lying?" It was obvious he was. For one, he didn't look like an assassin in the slightest. Although she wasn't an expert, she figured someone who killed for a living would have to be a tad bit more muscular. "It would be very unwise to come to a city crawling with Shinya," Liz pointed out. "Also, how would you kill with that hand?" The girl had noticed his hand, and its inability to move, and figured it had something to do with the truth.