PM to join From Wind Reach, With Love

[Brandon Blackwing]

Day 7 of Winter 515AV

For the first time in almost a year -one season short of a year actually- Brandon's feet touched down on Lhavitian soil once again. He rolled his shoulders a couple times, and stretched his arms, then turning around to face the eagle and endal who'd brought him back. “Thanks Syh.”
“Hey no problem,” the female endal replied, as laid back as ever, “but only because it's you.” Bran gave her a grin, and took a couple steps back to give the endal some space to get off her eagle as well. She hopped off quite graciously, the gold chain that connected her earlobe with one of her nostrils jiggling as she did so. She joined the bat in some stretches as well, groaning in pleasure.

“Well, this place sure is cold. I really don't see how you'd want to live here.” Syh wrapped her katinu a little tighter around her body. “Even if there are shiny buildings everywhere.” Brandon did have to agree that it was indeed quite cold, but he supposed it was just due to having spent three seasons in a volcano; he'd never really thought of Lhavit as cold, unless it was mid-winter. Oh well, he'd get used to it soon enough. In the meantime Syh cocked her head as if she was listening to something, then peering at the sky overhead. “Hm. Suppose you're right, Xuli,” she muttered in the birdlike whistles and chirps of Nari. She turned to Brandon then, “She says we should hurry and unload everything. The weather's not going to be great.” Brandon just nodded, letting Syh handle getting everything off of her Wind Eagle's back, as the grand avian predator flat out refused to let him get near her if it wasn't for getting on her back to fly. Supposedly dek were acceptable, but not outsiders -lack of Inarta blood and all that shyke.

It didn't matter all that much to the Kelvic anyway, he could care less what job he did or didn't get appointed to. He helped the endal with getting the crates and whatnot safely on the ground and relocated them to where she wanted them to go, and that was that. “Yeah, yeah I'll try my best to get this over with quickly, stop nagging. Alright. I'll make the transactions and we'll leave right away. I got it.” She sighed. “I haven't got much time. Seems like I won't be able to enjoy a wild night in Lhavitian fashion.” Another sigh. The party-loving endal had been looking forward to it, having gotten more and more excited the closer they'd gotten to the city. It had been the argument with which the bat had gotten her to accept to be one of the endal of trade convoy flying to the Star of Kalea. She'd even done her best to get to Lhavit faster than the others so she could party longer. Now her dreams had been crushed though.

“Another time then,” she sighed in defeat, shoulders slumping only for a split-tick. “Another time,” Brandon agreed with a smile, grabbing the rucksack where all his possessions had been stuffed into. “One last thing before you leave,” the endal stated, eying the bat with the same expression in her emerald hues like she'd had that night in the Inclement. She hadn't taken any drugs today, but the need was still there, and Bran wasn't going to just walk away because now had what he wanted. He kissed her roughly, pulling her body forcibly against his. He knew it was exactly what she desired; he hadn't spent a day or twenty-five as this endal's “bedwarmer” without figuring out what she liked and didn't like. Of course, the knowledge had allowed Bran to come and go more freely, which she hadn't minded. Quite the opposite in fact. Nevertheless, mating season had made sure the bat did end up in her aeries almost daily. It'd been convenient though, so the thief couldn't care less.

He broke both the kiss and the contact between their bodies then, taking a step back and slinging his rucksack over his shoulder. “This is goodbye then.” She nodded, looking a little saddened. Brandon did not. “Until we meet again.”
“Until we meet again,” she mimicked, a flicker of hope in her voice. Xuli shoved her with a wing as a result. The eagle hadn't liked Brandon at all, not before, and not now either. Not that the bat cared. He simply turned around and walked away, leaving the rider and mount duo by themselves.

They wouldn't be alone for too long though; while they had been the first to leave and thus arrive due to Syh's excitement, there hadn't been too much of a difference in time between them and the others' departure. Xuli had guessed a bell and a half tops, keeping the actual planned time of leaving in mind -or so Syh had told Brandon. Well, if that was true then they could start arriving any chime now. The Kelvic fixed his gaze on the sky, in particular the direction he knew Wind Reach was located in, and indeed, there they were. Small against the vast heaven, a bunch of avian silhouettes approached. Nodding to himself, the bat decided it'd be best he'd move on quickly. He didn't know if Dru had despite his warnings still been set on following him, but if she had he shouldn't let her get too close. It'd only result in another Kriegsfelt-like situation. This time though Brandon wouldn't hesitate to try and sever his chains as soon as possible. True, he could fail, and true it would probably result in the Sym's death. True, if that happened he'd be devastated and filled with regret. However, he'd warned Dru. He had told her that explicitly. He was no longer responsible for whatever happened to her.

Zhol would probably come and beat him up for that. If he could, that is. The horse-boy was no threat, and while Zhol himself sometimes forgot that, he should be well aware of the fact by now. But to Hai with the possible people from Wind Reach coming for him, he had bigger worries to attend to. Like avoiding Alses. Well, at least for a while, until he had made his return official, so to speak. He'd rock the city; they had been granted a three season break from the great phantom thief. Three seasons to try and forget about him. To actually forget him; if there was no news or rumors about him that was only natural. But it also meant he'd have to do a better job this time, a better job of carving his existence in their minds.

That too was for another time though. For now he'd just focus on the immediate important things: information and exchanging these Pinions for Kina. The cosmos center was the place to be, and as such the Kelvic made his way over to the building, weaving through crowded streets -actual streets!- and crossing plaza's and bridges until he found himself in front of the entrance for the first time in a long while.

credit goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Ornea]

She had seen him before. She was sure of it! But where?

Ornea had tried to figure it out more than once during the journey from Wind Reach. She had gone with her constant friend and endal Ruian of course, and she sort of hadn't found it smart to start to ask questions about other men, in particular not after the fallout they had had in fall after the snowshoe affair.

The strangely familiar looking stranger could hardly be significant as she didn't recall him. Still ... it annoyed her that her memory was bad. It worried her too. The overgiving after the times she had relapsed to using magic during her stay in Wind Reach this fall hadn't been any way near the serious overgiving in the past. But it had happened. She was secretly scared it had added new damage to the injuries of the past.

That cackling laugh ... it had been hers. She did't want to ever hear herself laugh that way again. She would stay away from Mt SkyInarta until she was on the safe side and immune to the sweet whisper. Just stay away ...exile was way better than becoming wacky. Just was.

The whole journey had passed without any bells ringing. All she knew was that the unknown man seemed to be a chiet who had come there with an endal. A simple chiet, that much was obvious.

This meant she was going to jump the queue. Lhavit had softened her up a bit last time she lived there. She had eventually adapted to the culture here and been more polite. But after one season in Wind Reach, with all the rudeness in the queues at the market, where she had to elbow her way past a lot of chiet all the time, she was back to normal Inarta behavior.

Cosmos Center. This clipped place ... it was where that investigator worked, the one she had found in her cupboard last fall. The one she had shot at. A man who was hard to forget, the way he had behaved, throwing buckets at her and breaking into her apartment. She hadn't seen him after the mess at her home. The likelihood of running into him here and now seemed low. Still ... what if ... it might be embarrassing ... so let's get the exchange of pinions for kinas done as quickly as possible and get the cuckoo out of here, she told herself. The faster the better.

She stepped in front of the supposed chiet with the oddly familiar looks before he got time to enter Cosmos Center, even giving him a shove.

"Move."

...

[Ayszel]

.

Ayszel gazed at the flurries, dancing and tossed up by the crowds that bundled along the sides of the buildings. Everyone was gazing up at the sky, watching the Endal approach. Ayszel had heard many a rumour that the Endals wouldn’t come this year, not with the hard winter that was being foretold. Their black silhouettes in the sky made the young dhani smile faintly, not because she was particularly interested in the giant birds, the glass, or the various other goods the winged things brought with them but because if they were flying, it meant that the weather was probably stable enough she could make it to the caves and back without too much trouble.

Her pack, with all the necessary gear from the Academy, bulged out from her back. Its hard and rough edged contents were somewhat cushioned away from her back by the thick Lhavitian coat. Her upper arms were bare due to the translucent earthen projections formed from her shoulder blade that made any long sleeved clothes practically impossible, while the hardened pebbly skin of her deformed arm hardly felt the melting snowflakes her other arm was much more sensitive to the biting chill. Her gown swept the snow from the streets as she moved toward the cosmos center.

It was the first place she had come when she had arrived last season and Oishi had been an invaluable asset since then. Though the dinner she had invited him to only a few days previous had not gone entirely as planned they had departed on good terms so she felt only moderate embarrassment asking them for guidance once again. She knew there were colonies of the Lhavitian White-Nosed Bat in caves near the cliff edges out looking the ocean but not where nor how to access the caves. Her preliminary research report was due this season, If I’m going to get anywhere on this report I need to see the caves I’m going to be gathering information from…if I make a plan before then it might not be the best way to collect the data.. The bats were found in those caves that were difficult to access but offered moderate sunlight and had trees or roots in which to make their nests. That was all she had gathered from Kystrels research thus far, and it certainly wasn’t enough to base her research on.

As Ayszel neared the glimmering star that was the cosmos center she breathed a silent thank you to Oishi, his tour had been a great service, a memory she used almost every day in her meanderings about the city. While she had still gotten lost relatively frequently all Autumn, his instructions had always guided her back to streets she was more familiar with.

Opening the heavy door it closed behind her with a heavier thump than she anticipated, the change in pressure yanking the door shut behind her despite her great size. “Oof…” she grumped as she stomped the snow from her boots and made her way to one of the desks. “Hi, I was wondering if Oishi was-“, she almost finished asking before Youchi interrupted, “Litka? Hi, it’s good to see you! How is Keesha she asked politely, a teasing smile on her face. “As troublesome as always, she got into the garden yesterday…” Ayszel groaned, “What a mess! How are you and Oishi? Enjoying the snow?” She inquired.

“Well I don’t mind it so much, but you know Oishi. No more plants in the winter, so he isn’t tremendously pleased.”

“Of course, of course,”

“So what can I do for you?” Youchi asked after the pleasantries had been exchanged. Ayszel had learned quite quickly the importance of polite chit chat, and though she found it moderately tiresome, she acknowledged how much better the results she got when she obliged.

“I have to take a trip out to coastal caves, look at some of the caves the White-Nosed Bats will come back to in the Spring before I write my proposal for work. I was wondering if you could give me some direction on how to find someone who might know their way around the area?” She broached, her common getting moderately better, although she was still prone to run on sentences and mistakes in tense.

Behind her a slight tussle and another bang of the door brought everyone's attention to the entrance of two people, both with surly bitter expressions on their faces. They must not be Lhavitians... Was Ayszel first thought. She'd never seen a Lhavitian act any less than completely politely.

[Brandon Blackwing]

His rucksack was shifted position just a little bit, and Brandon stroked a lock of hair out of his face, stepping to the door, paying no attention to the footsteps rapidly closing in. When his attention did shift from the portal and his objective to the person pushing past him. He knew that voice, and he knew those clothes. Brandon couldn't link the voice to a name though, but he did know he had met this person before. But more importantly he noticed she wore the clothes of an Avora, and if there was anything the bat could miss it were natives of Wind Reach thinking they could get away with applying their caste-based authority in Lhavit as well.

Perhaps they could when the other was an Inarta of a lower caste, but Brandon was not one of the red-headed folk.

So as she stepped in front of him, the bat's hand shot out, grabbing hold of the collar of her katinu and yanking her back as hard as he could, not caring if she lost her balance along the way. For all he was concerned he threw her on the floor. “In your dreams,” he muttered, not even looking back as he oped the doors to the Cosmos Center's interior, hearing that the Avora was on his heels. The bat's face twisted momentarily into a snarl as he breathed an annoyed “Tsk.” The attempt at jumping the queue hadn't done the Inarta much good, nor would it have, since all secretaries were already busy with assisting someone.

Youchi, the head of the whole Center, was occupied with some woman, but Brandon hadn't any interest in being helped by the Dawn anyway. Anyone would do, preferably someone who worked fast so he could get out of the building quickly, and rid himself of any annoying Inarta trying to instill their dominance. Brandon's eyes scanned the multitude of desks for a bit, focusing on a businesslike expression clasping her hands together with a gesture that seemed to signal the end of a conversation. Her customer got up out of his chair, and Brandon immediately strode towards the desk, setting himself down as soon as the other guy had taken a couple of steps away.

“Good day, what can I do for you?” the polite question came, and the Kelvic reached inside his bryda, placing a pouch of coin on the desk. “I'd like these Pinions to be exchanged for Kina,” he stated, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair. “Certainly, just a moment.” She slid the wallet to her end of the table, but did not get up, at least not immediately. Instead she dipped a fine brush in a vial of ink and placed some paper in front of her. “Just to be sure, you do want all of these exchanged, correct?” Brandon nodded, and the secretary made a note on a piece of paper, only then getting out of her seat, the wallet in hand. “Please excuse me for a chime.”

She returned soon enough, softly placing a pouch on the desk, a soft clinking of coin hinting at its contents. It was the same pouch, but as had been the bat's request, the Pinions now were Kina. “Can I check the contents?” he asked, planning on doing so whether or not he got approval. “Please do,” the woman encouraged, “and sign this-” she shoved a piece of paper to Brandon's side of the desk “- when you are done.”

The amount of coin he'd handed over did equal the amount he had been returned, the Kelvic contently noted, tying his pouch closed once more, then accepting the brush he was handed. For about half a chime he stared at the parchment, reading what was written there jut to be safe. It was a ledger of sorts, with a declaration that he had exchanged an amount of Pinions for the same amount of Kina, and that he was pleased with the transaction. Meaning that if they'd handed him five Kina too few, and he'd signed this, he could be upset all he wanted, the Cosmos Center was not in the wrong. In fact, they hadn't withheld those Kina at all. But everything checked out, so that was not what he was worried about.

What was the problem however was that he -as Incognito- had left messages and notes on various crime scenes. If the Shinya decided to go through all documents in the Cosmos Center to find if there was a handwriting that matched that of Incognito, Brandon would be petched. Well, if he wasn't ambidextrous, that is. So he held the brush in his left hand, writing his name on the designated line, set at ease with the knowledge that his left had a slightly different handwriting than his right hand. Once he was done he pushed the document back tot he secretary, who placed it aside for the moment, letting the ink dry. “Was there anything else you wanted?”

“Actually, yes.” Brandon steepled his fingers as he leaned in ever so slightly, elbows on the desk. “I've been away for three seasons. So I was wondering if anything major had happened since I left.” The woman nodded, taking a moment to organize he thoughts. “A couple of things have changed, yes,” she began, “for one, there was a landslide last season. Zintia peak has sustained quite some damage. There's a gaping hole still. And the Council of Radiance has been disbanded. The Day Lady and Night Lord spoke of corruption within the Council, so all councilors have been relieved of their positions.” The bat raised an eyebrow. Well, well. Seemed like Kriegsfelt wouldn't even have had to do anything to bring down Alses; if he'd just waited then perhaps he'd still be alive. Maybe.

“So there will be no more Council, then?”
“Oh no. They are reorganizing and reinventing it as we speak. They have been for a while now. There have been rumors of elections and the like, so people will have a little more influence on who does and doesn't become part of the council.”
“I see. Thank you.” Brandon got to his feet, slipping his coin pouch in his bryda.
“You're welcome,” she smiled politely. The Kelvic bowed as was the Lhavitian custom, and headed for the doors once more.

credit goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Ornea]

Being Inarta, and used to the somewhat brutal queuing style of Wind Reach Ornea simply brushed the setback off. The unknown chiet had turned out to be so strong that he was able to stop her. It was obvious that there was nothing she could do about it, and what she couldn’t affect she wasn’t going to spend time on. So she just got to her feet again and followed. If she would run into that chiet again she would for sure recognize him ... but it still eluded her where she had seen him before.

Once they were inside the Cosmos Center, Ornea fully adapted to the polite behavior of the Lhavitians and waited for her turn, nicely and showing no sign of impatience.

So, so well behaved. Watch me. I'm in Lhavit now.

She stood near enough to hear the conversations of the other visitors and the clerks. And the things she overheard shocked her.

A landslide in Lhavit? Damage and a gaping hole at Zinthia peak? The Council of Radiance dissolve due to corruption? All the councilors fired? Some bad news indeed. She had only been away for one season. And now Lhavit seemed to have as many troubles as Wind Reach had.

The stranger with the familiar looks was finished and headed to the door. Ornea went over to the desk he had left and went through the same procedure. Her pinions would be exchanged for lhavitian kinas, and the clerk gave her the standard parchment to sign. As she took the quill and dipped the tip of it in the ink and formed the first letter in her name, she noticed that the parchment the man in chiet clothes had signed was still laying there on the side of the desk, next to her own.

Aha! She lifted the quill from the parchment pretending to need more ink. While she slowly dipped it in the ink again, she took the opportunity to give the other parchment a quick look. It looked like the man’s handwriting wasn’t better than her own, so he was most likely not a scholar. With some effort she managed to read the name.

Brandon Blackwing. Now she knew, but the name didn’t tell her anything. Annoying. But maybe he was somebody she had seen very long time ago. He hadn’t seemed to know her either. She really should stop thinking of it now and focus her thoughts on other and more important things ... she memorized the name though. The surname in particular. Blackwing. A birdlike name. She liked this. Perhaps she ought to consider a bird surname too. Mental note to think of something ...

She wrote the rest of her name, moving the quill over the parchment without any higher skill. It was readable though. Ornea. As this was Lhavit and she sort of felt the need of a surname again, she dipped the quill in ink one more time and added “From Wind Reach”. Unsatisfactory. But better than nothing.

“Anything more?” The clerk smiled pleasantly.

It struck Ornea that with the disasters that had hit Lhavit the city might not be as she remembered it and it would maybe be best to be more cautious than she had been in the past. Some might think Lhavit was always harmless and safe, but Ornea had seen both robbery and burglary last year and there had been other things as well. These bad experiences made her cautious, despite how Lhavit was said to be such a very safe city. She found it best to not take any risks.

She looked back at the clerk, and smiled a bit, like the lhavitians always seemed to expect. “Yes. I’d like to deposit the money in your safe until have checked up my lodgings and other things. I’ll keep 50 kina and deposit the rest”.

The clerk told her there was a fee of 5 kina for the deposition. Ornea with her Inarta attitude to money as something collective didn’t object. Five Kina for keeping her money safe was alright. The clerk took a new parchment and wrote the conditions on it. Her handwriting was much better than Ornea’s and it was easy for the Inarta to read it through. Of the 1577 kina she owned, she would take with her 50 out from Cosmos Center, and the rest, 1527 was going to the safe deposit and from this they would deduct a fee of 5 Kina. The money deposited at Cosmos Center was thus 1522 kina. They could only be collected by Ornea personally and Cosmos Center would pay the rent for her apartment directly to Solar Wind Apartments. Well. Perhaps it was a little bit expensive after all, but Ornea signed the second parchment without complaining.

The clerk gave her the 50 kina she was going to carry on her and Ornea put them in her purse while the clerk took Ornea’s papers and headed to the safe with the rest. The purse was quite thin now, but 50 kina was 50 kina, so she wasn’t going to keep them in the katinu. She put them in the right pocket of her bryda, pulled the katinu closer around her and started to button it.

It was calm in the room, just herself and a few other visitors, one of them a tall beautiful dark haired woman at the desk of ...whatshername ... yeah, Youshi Dawn ... well ...

Ornea would soon head to the door, relieved that she was done with exchanging and depositing her money and she hadn't had an awkward sudden meeting with that investigator type with the buckets.

Not that it would be so bad really, not that she would be embarrassed ... she just didn’t know what to say to lhavitians she had shot at, that was all. For sure. If he turned up she would just ... clip it, she was going to check up important things now, not think of old troubles. There was always some new troubles to deal with, now obstacles and other clipped cuckoo coming her way ...

She suddenly recalled one more thing and turned back to ask more questions. The clerk who had taken care of her money was still gone. Clip, clip, seemed she would need to ask that Dawn woman about meditation trainers. Her first advice to Ornea, over a year ago, had been to turn to Dawn Tower. This had proven totally worthless. The mages there hadn’t even let the Inarta in. Perhaps she had misunderstood it and would get better information this time ?

Ornea went to stand right behind the tall dark haired woman, maybe a little bit too close for some, but not to an Inarta, as being crowded didn't bother them.
OOCDeposition fee for keeping money in the Cosmos Center safe -5 kina

...

[Ayszel]

.

Ayszel turned back to Youchi once the tussle was settled quite quickly between the two and shook her head, “Where was I? Caves, right.” She remembered, “Yes, so do you know anyone?” She queried again, bringing the conversation back after the disruption. Youchi however was watching the black haired man that had entered with a thin line to her lips before glancing at the red haired woman who followed him.

“Who are they?” Ayszel asked, she had never seen Youchi be anything but pleasant to those who entered the center, and had certainly never seen her look so stern with anyone except a misbehaving Oishi.

“I’m not sure exactly, but they’re probably from Wind Reach. Those Endals are always bringing trouble in with them…” She replied, without lifting her eyes from the two potential troublemakers. Once they seemed calm and sorted with attendants of their own she finally looked back to Ayszel.

“I heard whispers that the Endal weren’t coming this season because of the weather. Turns out they brought more than just trade this time, hm?” Ayszel asked, “I heard they ride on giant eagles…but that must just be a fairy tale, right?”

“No, it’s not just a tale. They have these giant eagles that only their kind can bond with, much like the Shinya and the like bond to the Okomo here. The eagles are protectors of their home and carry trade between cities. They’re gorgeous I must say…” She admitted, though it appeared grudgingly.

“So they are Endal?”

“Well…probably not. The Endal are a caste system among the people, the Inarta. They are the ones bonded to the eagles. Endal only live in Wind Reach though…they’d never live anywhere else. If they’re here, they’re probably staying in Lhavit. So they must just be citizens of Wind Reach…”

Castes? Wind Reach? It all sounded so foreign to Ayszel, though in the isolation of Zinrah she had not been exposed to other cultures so everything sounded foreign to Ayszel and she was used to her head spinning with the information.

“So, you were asking about caves?” Youchi returned to the initial conversation with a smile. However, before Ayszel could smile she felt the uncomfortable press of another’s presence on her back. She was used to the stares the long towers of translucent white stone stretching out from her shoulder blade from overgiving and they rarely made her turn any longer, but few approached to pear so closely.

Ayszel flinched and moved forward, trying to move away from the presence and glanced over her shoulder, meeting the gaze of the red-haired foreigner. Ayszel loomed over the little creature at 6 feet and gazed down at her through dark eyes. However, as small as the woman was she exuded strength and appeared in presence much taller than her actual height denoted.

Eventually Ayszel turned back to Youchi squirming slightly, feeling watched. “Yes, the caves.”

“Well…if you’re going to go and look at the caves you’ll need to go soon, once the snow comes down too thick you wont be able to descend into them safely. Best way is to go with the hunters and see if any are planning on putting out bird traps near the coastal cliffs. If you give me a few chimes I can see if there are any planned hunts,” Youchi explained,

“wait just a moment?” She excused herself, disappearing into the back room where details on events and the like where delivered by courier or shopkeepers themselves. Ayszel eyed the Inartan behind her through the corner of her eye while she waited, too polite to begin an inquisition but too curious and uncomfortable with her presence to ignore her completely.

[Brandon Blackwing]

Upon reaching out to the knob of the door, Brandon momentarily froze right in his tracks, head turning to look over his shoulder, scanning the many unfamiliar faces of the clerks for that of Sal Mander, perhaps the only person in Lhavit the bat could call a friend. Or at least something along the lines of one. He hadn’t seen the bearded investigator ever since Autumn of the year five hundred and fourteen. As expected, he didn’t see him anywhere, nor did his scent clung to the building. For whatever reason, the Lhavitian hadn’t been coming to the Cosmos Center for a while. Perhaps he had changed jobs.

The bat shrugged, pushing the door open and stepping through it, hearing the Inarta say something about a safe. There was a safe in the Cosmos Center? One where people deposited their money? Well that was interesting, though the Kelvic did not linger in the doorway, instead choosing to continue on as if nothing had happened, passing by a couple people heading in the opposite direction. His mind raced however, wondering whether the security was something special or not; what kind of lock was installed, were there guards keeping an eye on it at all times? Was there a myriad of thick, locked doors preventing anyone from coming close to the room the safe was in? Oh, this truly was interesting indeed.

Perhaps he should observe the Center for a couple days, gather more intelligence… However, there were a lot of Shinya in the vicinity of the ornamented building at just about any time. The gate was close after all, and Brandon knew there were at least four guards on the lookout, acting as gatekeepers either allowing or denying passage. But, challenges only made things more appealing to people like Brandon; the more excitement, the better. Although… he wondered if it truly was that hard to infiltrate. Yes, maybe he should just do some surveillance regardless, to find out whether or not it was possible for him to actually get in and out unseen, as well as determining the difficulty of doing so.

But first he’d rather find out where exactly Sal had gone. It worried him a bit that the tall man was no-where to be seen or smelled, and that when he’d been rather clumsy. For the first time in a long while Brandon considered that Kriegsfelt might have noticed someone was digging for clues about his person. It was possible that the merchant had gotten rid of the investigator… after all, Sal hadn’t been anywhere to be found last Winter… But no, that was not possible. Kriegsfelt would have rubbed that under the bat’s nose if it was true, he’d have suspected the Kelvic from hiring a detective in the first place. He would have used it to his advantage.

Still, what had happened to him then? It was a mystery.

Of course, there was an easy way to find the answer, however, it wasn’t really a pleasant one. The bat took a deep sigh and headed back inside, finding that the clerk who’d assisted him before had returned from the safe, but was now once more occupied by another patron. Well. Seemed like he had no choice but to get in line, behind the Inarta woman that annoyed him. He crossed his arms and stared over her head, unfortunately into the back of the taller female standing in front of the fire-haired one.

ooc:D Bwahaha, you’re not freed of me, oh no

credit goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Ornea]

When the tall beauty in front of Ornea kept glancing at her, the Inarta started to feel ... short. She wasn’t able to look over the shoulder of the darkhaired woman and so wasn’t able to find out if Youshi Dawn was doing any progress with the things she was working at. She bet it was slow progress though. Youshi hadn’t impressed Ornea last time she had spoken with her. It was over one year ago, but Ornea recalled it well. Uncanny, that was how it had been. And she actually felt a strong feeling of once more facing an uncanny being, which she took must be caused by the Dawn as there was no other reason for it. A pity she hadn’t turned to the other clerk with her questions about meditation trainers when she had the chance.

The employees of Cosmos Center were definitely the oddest ones she knew in Lhavit. Youshi Dawn had seemed a bit too much doll like in Ornea’s opinion. Not to mention her colleague the investigator, who Ornea had mistaken for being an animated golem sent out to do sabotage at Lucis. Cosmos Center. People used to mention this place in passing by, like it was of no greater significance, just an administrative place where they went to get help with housing and general information.

So wrong. Ornea didn’t know how the people of Lhavit could think that the house that shone brightest of them all with a strong and fluorescent light when darkness fell could be a simple place. And there was Youchi Dawn, being of the Dawn family too. And in addition ... the safe made by Edward Lucis. Maybe the most advanced safe in the whole world, as far as Ornea knew. The inarta suspected that Cosmos Center held much more than was known to the average lhavitian. She couldn't know, of course not, but she strongly suspected it.

The dark haired woman kept glancing back at her. Ornea wasn’t sure what to make of it. It had kept her from following closely when the other woman moved forward, and there was now a small gap between them. Ornea was on the brink of stepping forward but every time she was about to do it the other woman looked back at her and each time the Inarta stopped herself and stayed where she was.

The scruffy being named Brandon Blackwing returned. As he went to stand behind her Ornea nearly took a step forward after all, but the risk for bumping into the darkhaired woman made her abstain. The small gap between the two remained. But the man had so far not made any attempts to push Ornea to the side and step in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder and found herself looking at dark cloth. Gazing up she saw his face, framed by long dark hair, closer now. Again, he struck her as somebody she might have met before, but if she had, she didn’t recognize him.

He was pretty young. She could see that now. Perhaps she had met, or just seen him, long ago when he was younger and now time and other things had changed his looks a bit, as often happened with people ... maybe he had seen better times and she had seen him when he wasn’t this scruffy. People change.

But her tries to place him were failing again. He could actually be somebody she had never met before, but who made her think of someone else. Well. She really should give up this fruitless searching for answers. His name was already known to her, and she didn’t recall it from the past. This proved that she was on a fool’s errand. She didn’t know why she continued guessing, against better judgement. It could be her overgiving injuries. She had no other explanations to why she was looking the Blackwing stranger over for a bit longer time than was polite even in Wind Reach.

Ornea stopped studying Brandon and turned her gaze forward. She was getting impatient.

“How much more time will this take?”. She spoke loud enough for Youshi Dawn to hear it. Maybe it could make the clerk speed up and get things done.

...

[Ayszel]

.

Ayszel was rather fond of Youchi’s son, if not Youchi herself. Though the woman had been forgiving and helpful in all ways, despite Ayszels social faux pas, her demeanour made Ayszel cynically uncomfortable. For the same reason the entire beautiful shimmering city made her uncomfortable, there was simply too much goodness for her to believe still waters ran beneath it. She had been right about the city, she had heard through whispers in the streets of the corruption the gods were dismantling at this very moment. Youchi had yet to reveal what was beneath her sweet and accommodating visage but her keen flickering eyes made Ayszel shift from foot to foot whenever she should need to hold the woman’s gaze for too long.

Glancing at the petite red head seemed to have done the trick for when she stepped forward, closer to the desk, she wasn’t followed. Her heels began to cool and her tense back eased slightly, though her dignified stature was never sullied by hunched shoulders, her shoulders did noticeably ease forward, relaxing into their usual positions. However, when the dark shadowy man joined them once again Ayszels eyes narrowed, Are they going to fight right in the Cosmos? However, the man seemed to keep his relative distance and no fists or insults were raised.

Just as Ayszel too was getting impatient Youchi emerged from the back and swept over to Ayszel, glancing at the line forming behind her with thin lips.

“How much more time will this take?” The red head piped up, in a voice that, to Ayszels ear, sounded like a squeaking mouse or screeching twittering bat. She winced, wrinkling her nose in distaste, at the Wind Reach accent.

“A lot longer if you don’t grow some manners. You’re in Lhavit now, grow a little.” Ayszel replied, without glancing over her shoulder at the repugnantly rude red head. Youchi glanced at Ayszel with an unreadable expression, Is she glad I stood up for her? Or embarrassed by my brashness? Ayszel wondered lightly , largely unconcerned. Just last season I was a foreigner as well, I still am, going under the guise of a different person, disguising my race and history, I'm no Lhavitian...but perhaps my desire to meld with the people here stems from the need for survival, that demands no one look too closely at who I am...here, these rude ruffians can be themselves, as unlahvitian as they like, for they wont be persecuted for who they really are... As Ayszel considered their actions and her own she felt a small sense of pride for her impersonation of a polite lhavitian and jealousy of their flagrant disregard for the rules.

“There was a hunting group going out tonight, but they cancelled for fear of a snow storm tonight. There is one going to collect the last of their coastal traps still though, since they don’t want to be digging through snow to find them tomorrow. Since they won’t actually be hunting, I imagine they’d be more than happy to have you tag along, fresh company and all, and show you were some of the bat caves lie. Though I don’t imagine they’ll be all too keen on letting you explore them much, you could get a sense. They usually leave from Springwater Square in about a bell or two. Good Luck!” She offered, as Ayszel thanked her and turned to leave the line, carefully not giving the two rude foreigners another glance.

“Thanks Youchi, have a pleasant evening,” She offered, poignantly sweet, a demonstration for the red head who was taking her place at the front of the line.

OOCI'm leaving the Cosmos Center now, if you can think of a reason to join Ayszel in exploring the bat caves feel free to engage your PC with it/her and you can join my tonight thread. If not, I enjoyed getting to see Ayszel think about her role as a lhavitian, thanks for the thread.

[Brandon Blackwing]

The red-head studied him, a slight frown on her face, the kind of expression you'd expect from someone who was trying to figure something out, but just couldn't get the puzzle pieces to fit. Brandon didn't exactly mind, or rather, he simply ignored her, thinking about his own share of mysteries that occupied his mind. That, as well as hoping this damned queue would dissolve shortly. Apparently, he wasn't the only one hoping for it; the Inarta voicing her impatience with her squeaky chirps, birdsong and whistles even sneaking into her speech as she spoke Common. He'd found it annoying during his first season in Wind Reach, but he supposed he'd gotten used to it. At least it didn't bother him that much anymore.

Unexpectedly, the dark haired woman spoke up in response, a biting remark that made the bat chuckle. Grow a little, that was a good one, he should try to remember it. Then the clerk started to inform the woman of hunting groups and … bat caves, the latter of which piqued the Kelvic's interest. He was a bat after all. Perhaps it wasn't worry for his leather-winged cousins he felt, but there was a slight bit of unease he experienced at the mention of them. Of the possibility of some stranger poking about in the sanctuaries of his kin. He’d rather be there to keep an eye on her, that way his mind would at least be a little less anxious.

She prepared to leave, being rather obvious in not wanting to lay eyes on both the bat and the Inarta. Brandon intercepted her with a couple words as she passed by though; “Hold up a tick.” He turned towards the tall woman, close enough to take in her scent without too much others interfering and drowning it out. She wasn’t human, her scent was distinctly different from that of the race Kelvics mimicked so very successfully. She did look human, however. Like the tall tattoo artist from the candle seminar, he’d had the same colored skin too… But his scent hadn’t been quite human either. And yet, the difference between the scent of the two was too large to be blamed on the uniqueness of individuals within a race. Or perhaps his nose had been too sullied with the smell of candles to accurately sense what usually was so obvious.

“You mentioned bat caves. I could take you to a few of them. I know the locations of a couple inhabited caves.” Naturally, those were caves he’d used himself a time or two. He waited for her reply, though he wasn’t planning on letting a ‘no’ prevent him from coming along anyway. To leave the city on had to go through the gates, and even if he didn’t know when she would be setting out to go visit the bats, he could still inconspicuously hang around for as long was needed. Waiting might not be the most pleasant thing to do, but for a thief surveillance was part of the job. Heck, if he didn’t want her to find out he was coming along –for example so he’d be able to witness her true intentions upon arrival at the caves- he could just shadow her; she’d never notice. That is, if he didn’t make any stupid mistakes.

As the woman left, Brandon turned back forwards, his gaze boring itself in the fire-haired Inarta’s head. The interaction with the tall female had stirred up some vague memories, and for some reason the candle seminar was the most clear of all. Why? Who had been there? The lecturer; the damnable Mifune… but who else? The tattoo artist. That guy had been talking to… to… some man… Had he bought candles? Probably. But never mind that man, there’d been one other in their group. A woman. A redhead. Inarta? Most likely. This Inarta? Perhaps. Brandon frowned, his memory wasn't being all that cooperative.

credit goes to Estrellir Konrath