The trouble with chance (Gael)

[Reed]

1st of Summer, 520 A.V.

With Summer now upon Syliras, Reed was more than happy to visit the Antonious Training grounds for his run as the open air offered a brief respite from the cloistered heat within the castle. As today’s duties hadn’t officially started, he decided to forgo his plate. There would be plenty of time to cook in that steel suit later. For now he wanted to feel the wind on his face as he wound his way through the grounds.

Starting at a slow jog, he let his legs and arms fully extend with each movement as he got warmed up. Wearing only a pair of pants, the air felt cool against his skin as sweat beaded across his brow and lower back. His movements were far from graceful, but they did have a certain rhythm to them as he completed his first circuit of the grounds. Increasing the pace, his heart chased the new beat.

As he started to move faster, he hiked his arms up higher with every sway of his step. His hips rocking from side to side to keep him balanced. Running barefoot across the grassy terrain felt great, and cushioned the bounce of his step as he ran across. It almost reminded him of Sunberth if it wasn’t for the smell. These grounds smelled nothing like where he grew up. Where Sunberth was suffused with sickly sweet decay, this was a decidedly more wholesome earthly scent. Syliras had its noxious scents to be sure, but they didn’t hold a candle to the slag heap on a hot summer day.

Wrinkling his nose, he grinned, and focused back on the run. He completed two more circuits of the grounds before he finished up. Then after taking a pull of his waterskin, he didn’t bother drying off before pulling on a simple shirt, and going through the arduous task of putting on his plate. As much as he’d initially detested strapping on all of this armor, it was starting to grow on him. The weight was almost like a second skin. An he had to admit it would be handy in a fight, especially while he was still getting used to wielding his weapons.

With that done, he wrapped things up at the grounds and headed to his first post for the day. Today that was the Great Bazaar, Kaer’s way of getting him more acquainted with the locals as he grew to learn his new duties. Even though he wasn’t permitted to carry his arms out of the grounds just yet, he felt capable enough clad in all of his plate should there be any trouble. Not that he expected any. Syliras had a strong rule of law, which was rather comforting considering the anarchy he had come from. His twin might chafe occasionally with all of the rules, but Reed appreciated having clear lines drawn for him. It made it easier to focus on a task when he knew with certainty what his efforts were going towards.

At a little past the 6th bell, Reed arrived in the Bazaar and took up a place by one of the stalls. He didn’t try to interact with anyone just yet. Instead, he simply observed the people who were out running errands, looking for anything that might catch his eye.

[Gael Reacher]

It was stupid hot for 10 in the morning, sweat gathering on his brow and dripping down his chin in the early morning light. He raised his hand and wiped with the back of his sleeve, a frown marring his lips. A wolf the size of his second form always drew heads and panicked gasps from mothers clutching their children, so he tried to remain in his first form as much as possible, but even if he didn’t he couldn’t imagine wearing his ‘fur coat’ in this current weather.

His stomach pinched painfully before giving a rumble and he placed a hesitant hand over it, grimacing. It had been two days since he’d last eaten, most of his money spent on board at the Castle, and if he didn’t eat soon he knew he’d be in trouble. So, closing up his room for the day, Gael made his way down to the Bazaar to see what he could find with his meager pocket change.

His mouth started watering a mile before he even reached the Bazaar, the smell of many arrays of cuisine attacking his already sensitive senses. He walked through the crowd, copper eyes scanning the booths like a…well, like a wolf stalking its prey. He tried to ignore most of what he saw, knowing it was out of his price range and, rather than torturing himself with the notion, he kept walking. He walked up and down the bazaar for what felt like hours, growing more and more frustrated. His nostrils flared and his teeth clenched as he was unable to find a booth at the price he needed.
He stopped dead in the middle of the road, a citizen walking behind him slamming into his back.

“Hey! Watch it!” The man protested.

Gael turned his head, staring down at the man who was a several inches shorter than him. His eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth, starting to turn his full body around.

“Nevermind,” The protester said upon seeing his teeth, side stepping and hurrying along down the road.

The Kelvic watched the man go, running his hands through his hair to try and snap himself out of it. He looked around once again, attention landing on a simple bread stand. The prices the boulanger called out were at least 4CM more than he had, and while the stand was the cheapest he’d seen the price was still ridiculously inflated. He’d been trying to do things the proper way, different from the chaos of Sunberth he’d been raised in, but there was no properness here either. He reasoned that if he stole a loaf of bread from the boulanger, it was just because the price was hiked up and it was a rip-off in the first place.

Gael stepped back, scanning up and down the street waiting for a thicker crowd of people to come through. When they did, he melded into them seamlessly. When they passed the stand, he made to ‘accidentally’ trip two citizens who were walking nearest to him. They, in turn, tripped into some of the other patrons and allowed him to act as though he’d been unintentionally knocked into the stand. In the midst of yelling and calls of surprise, and while attention was focused elsewhere, he acted like he was disentangling himself from the mess and wordlessly slipped a loaf of bread beneath his shirt and tucked into the waist of his pants.

He threw up his hands and grumbled, acting the part of a disgruntled patron before moving to meld back into the populace and closer to eating his newly nabbed breakfast.

[Reed]

As the morning wore on, Reed found himself gravitating to the section of the bazaar that spilled out of the city. In response to the heat, a few merchants had decided to set up outside. There they hawked to any who would listen while Reed was just trying to catch a stray breeze. It was stifling in this plate. More than once he had to mop his brow with the back of his hand as he tried to keep an eye on who was coming and going. Of course, it was hard as the late morning crowd had a snappy hustle to it.

There was a lot of jostling involved and griping, but Reed mostly ignored it went it didn’t seem like anything serious had occurred. One such interaction did interest him however when there was an altercation in the middle of the thoroughfare. The situation resolved itself rather quickly, but Reed took an interest in the man who remained. He didn’t move with the same haste as the rest, and certainly wasn’t dressed the part, though that didn’t say much. This was a point of entry into the city, and visitors mixed freely with the residents of the city.

Reed was no investigator however, so he wasn’t able to tell much about the man other than that he seemed to be doing an awful lot of looking around. He felt a pang of suspicion from Merdem, but he ignored it. Maybe the man was just lost.

With that in mind, he made his way towards the stranger but had to pause when there happened to be a swell of people in his way. At first he moved to cut around. Then the shouting started an he started to make his way through. Most gave him some space, recognizing the plate and Reed was careful not to knock into anybody as he made his way. He got out on the other side of it to see the back of the quickly retreating figure he’d been watching before.

Arching an eyebrow, Reed followed at a steady clip. When he was within comfortable earshot, he called out while raising a hand. “Excuse me, do you need directions?” If that didn’t work, he’d jog after the man and try to intercept to pose the same question again.

[Gael Reacher]

For a long moment, Gael definitely thought he’d gotten away with it. He was swept up in the crowd and being taken away with it, gliding serenely downstream with a glorious catch. Maybe, just maybe, there was a god smiling down on him.

But, alas, he spoke too soon.

A gruff voice called from not too far behind him and he turned his head to glance back, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple. He was greeted by the sight of a large, solidly built Akalak gilded in plates of armor, obviously announcing him as a guard of some sort. Surely he wasn’t talking to him, right? He’d sworn his plan was fool proof. But, when they made eye contact and the man put a massive hand up to effectively tell him to ‘halt’, he felt the hairs go up on the back of his neck. If he’d been in his second form, his tail would have gone ram rod straight.

He pinched his lips together to keep from snarling, clenching his jaw. He told himself to calm down and not jump to conclusions. He paused and turned toward the guard, squaring his shoulders. His copper gaze analyzed the other’s posture and didn’t detect any sort of maliciousness just yet, but he was alert and attentive regardless.

“No. I’m just looking around,” He replied simply, keeping his voice level. He wasn’t quite curt, but he wasn’t necessarily friendly either.

[Reed]

Catching up to the man, Reed took a tick to take off his helmet. “Are you sure?” He asked, glancing from the man back towards where the initial commotion had began. “What was all that yelling about?” Looking the stranger over, he didn’t see anything untoward. Maybe he was a little scuffed but he’d seen worse on the street. The man also seemed a little tense, though that was understandable given the situation. He relaxed, as the stranger seemed to be cooperating. After giving him ample time to answer his questions, Reed nodded and extended a hand. “Well, if you’re new, welcome to the city. My name’s Reed.”

Whether or not the man chose to greet him in turn, as Reed was speaking, another Akalak in plate showed up. Catching the figure of Kaer Curisaris out of the corner of his eyes, Reed turned and nodded differentially. “Ser” Reed said automatically, to which Kaer nodded but was plainly focused on the stranger. Glancing between Reed and Gael, Kaer asked. “Do you know each other?” Reed shook his head. “No Ser, I was just seeing if he needed directions as he looked lost.” Kaer grunted, “That’s a word for it. Has he given you any trouble?” Again Reed shook his head. “No Ser.”

Scratching his chin, Kaer looked Gael straight in the face before speaking again. “If you take that back to the stall right now, we can just forget about this because of your behavior so far.” Reeds face crinkled in confusion, but he remained silent as the older knight proceeded to watch Gael for several ticks before turning towards the squire. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Kaer sighed and gave him a thoughtful look. “For a boy from Sunberth, you aren’t any good at catching thieves.” Surprised, Reed opened his mouth to speak, but Kaer continued. “You were on the right track, but for the wrong reasons. I’ll mention it to your instructors to try and focus a bit more on the investigation side of things. Anyways, I’m off, but there are other Knights around. Keep those eyes open.”

“Yes Ser.” Reed nodded in deference. Feeling a bit chagrined, pulled his helmet back on, and looked for wherever the man went. He had a few more questions to ask him. While he didn’t exactly hold it against the man, he did want to know what the man had taken so he might understand why. So far as he knew there were only food stalls where he had passed, though he supposed the theft could have happened far earlier. Also he wanted to know the how, but he strongly doubted the man would be willing to divulge that information. He would just need to keep out a better eye in the future if he wanted to get better at catching things as they happened.

If he found the man, he would approach as he had before, with a hand raised. “I’m not here to start anything. I just want to know what you took, and why. This city isn’t like other places out there. We have a community to protect out here, and we all have our part.”

[Gael Reacher]

This was all going…much better than he thought it would have. The knot in his stomach was starting to loosen and his shoulders relax. Truthfully, Gael had never stolen anything in his life. His family was higher middle-class thanks to his parents’ professions, so they’d been lucky enough to always be able to put food on the table and a roof over his head. In fact, he could remember sneering at kids getting caught pick pocketing. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

His gaze traveled to Reed’s extended hand with his introduction, eyes flickering between his face and the ‘gesture of good faith’. He shifted his stance, hesitant for a moment before beginning to raise his own hand to shake the other’s. His lips parted to form his own introduction, but movement from behind the Akalak guard caught his attention. Another Akalak joined them, his body language an entirely different story. Red flags immediately went up for Gael and he took an instinctual step back, attention fixed on the newcomer. They locked eyes, the wording the other used digging into his skin and making his hair stand on end.

Then, he was challenged directly, called out and discovered. In the world of canines, maintaining eye contact was a direct challenge to one’s authority and status, it was a question of character and a battle of will. Gael, used to being at the ‘top of the food chain’, immediately curled back his lips to reveal sharp, enlarged canines. His nose scrunched in a silent snarl, tongue poking out to lick his teeth menacingly. But, his body remained still. He was assessing the other, watching the interaction between the two men and wondering about an escape route. A curious sentence fell from the challenger’s mouth about the red Akalak being from Sunberth and, once again, Gael attention shifted to him. How was someone from Sunberth, a town famous for its lawlessness, now an enforcer of structure.

Reed slipped on his helmet as the other walked away and the Kelvic eyed around them, finding the man true to his word. There were several other Knights posted in various places, all positioned in a way that hinted they were at least paying partial attention to their interaction. He had no way of escaping with is prize, so he only had one option: tuck tail and hand it over.
A human growl rumbled up his throat in frustration as he pushed past, back in the direction of the bread stand. The boulanger was haggling with someone, so he’d hoped he wouldn’t notice his little return, but, as the day seemed to hint, luck was not on his side. As he pulled the bread loaf out of his waistband, the bread maker looked over and caught him. It likely seemed like he was doing quite the opposite and putting it in, so he did what any normal clerk would do: he started yelling.

His head ducked as the boulanger flew around the stand, wielding a long baguette like a sword. “What do you think you’re doing! Trying to steal from me! Knights! Knights!” he hollered and wailed and Gael winced as he was hit mercilessly with the baguette.

“I gave it back! Here, here!” the Kelvic called, pointing to the loaf. He held his hand up in defense, digging in his pocket for his last remaining amount of coin and shoving it at the boulanger.

“Don’t let me see you around my stand again,” the man said, snatching the bread and the coin before returning to his roadside business.

He stood, a deep frown marring his lips as he picked pieces of flour and bread from his hair. What a muck.

Then, from behind, he heard the red Akalak begin speaking again and he sighed, turning to face him. “Bread. I stole bread, because I’m fuckin’ hungry. If you grew up in Sunberth too, you gotta remember that, right? This isn’t anything new for us, so let’s not make it a big deal,” he growled, his nose wrinkling in disdain. He just wanted to go curl up and sleep the rest of the day away. Sleep for lunch seemed pretty attainable.

[Reed]

As fate would have it, the man was not hard to follow back to the stall as he stuck around a bit to listen in. Pacing him a discreet distance away, he watched impassively as the stranger went to up to a baker. The following altercation might even have been amusing if Reed didn’t feel put out for having missed the theft in the first place. That, and because evidently it had just been a little bread. Reed had known hunger as a slave, so it mellowed him out to see the stranger return the food. He was obviously not a seasoned thief whoever he was, and that quieted any thoughts of rebuke that stirred up from Merdem’s mutterings.

When the stranger had made his peace with the baker, Reed walked up, pointedly making eye contact with the baker before shifting his eyes back to the man to ask his questions. Although he was pretty sure of the what and why after seeing the encounter with the baker, he still felt the need to ask it of the man. It was a good way to get his measure. To see how inclined he was to truth. He still needed to get a measure of this man after all so he could report back to the Ser later.

“I do. How about I buy you something more substantial and in return you tell me what brings you here. Perhaps I can find you some honest work.” Reed said after thinking about it for a tick. He decided he liked the man’s answer, and just maybe, he had news from Sunberth that might interest him. Although he was very glad to be rid of the place, he had a morbid interest in what had been going on since he’d left. Left, as if he had any choice in the matter. He chuckled out of hand at that, and then remembering himself, extended his hand.

“How about that name to start?”

With the greeting out of the way, he lead off towards the Rearing Stallion. It would be mostly empty right now, and perfect for a quiet conversation. The trip there was not a long one as the tavern was located within the first ring of the fortress city. While they made their way through occasionally cramped halls, Reed decided to travel in silence unless the man wanted to speak. He would save his questions for once the man managed to get some food down.

It would not be hard to pick out when they neared the Rearing Stallion, for as they turned a corner, there was a large red sign bearing the establishment’s namesake. Heading inside, Reed immediately went to the long bar that bisected the common room from the kitchen. To their right was a empty raised stage for performances, and a enormous fireplace at the end of the tavern served to light the rest of the room. As it was, their end of the bar was dimly lit, but not so much that it bothered Reed. Kevith the barkeep soon showed up and Reed ordered a breakfast, handing the man five silver mizas.

“How long have you been in Syliras?” Reed asked finally, after a plate was set in front of Gael and a mug of Syliran ale.

[Gael Reacher]

Gael was, quite frankly dumb-founded when Reed offered to buy him a meal. Everything he’d ever learned about people in positions of true, organized law said that they would sooner leave you out to die and make you feel like you were the one who caused it than help. But, then again, wasn’t that also how it worked in Sunberth? If you weren’t in a gang it was every man for himself, with immense pressure to join someone just to get out of the rain looming over you every day. He knew the amount of times his father had been offered high-ranking positions by gang bosses and the protection that potentially offered, but he’d always turned them down. He said it was better not to owe anybody, especially in Sunberth. You’d owe one-hundred fold more in the end.

Which was why he was so hesitant to accept his offer of food in the first place. He didn’t want to owe anything because, well, he didn’t have anything to give back. At least, not yet. Gael hadn’t been able to settle himself anywhere so far in order to earn extra coin, so he’d been moving around a lot. He’d seen more than he ever thought he would of the world in the few months it had been since he’d left Sunberth, but it was wearing on him.

“Gael. Gael Reacher,” the Kelvic replied after a moment, following the Knight begrudgingly.

He led them to a tavern, walking in silence the entire time minus the bustling streets around them, and for that he was grateful. It let him try to get his head on straight about the current situation he was in and how, exactly, he was going to repay him for the meal. No doubt it would take a bit of time.

They sat down at the bar in a dimly lit corner, Reed’s metal plates clanking and bonking and he had to wonder how he was wearing that piece and not passed out on the ground from the heat. But, his attention was promptly redirected when a plate of hot food was set down in front of him along with a mug of ale. He looked from the plate, to the Knight, then back to the plate before deciding screw it. It took all his willpower not to just dig in with his hands, instead maintaining some semblance of dignity and he effectively stuffed his face. He downed half the ale in one go, so frantic that small dribbles of it dripped down his chin and throat and wetting the front of his shirt.

He took a breath as he slammed down the mug, taking a moment to gather his feral need for sustenance. He was good at keeping the more feral parts of himself in check, being trained in discipline for his entire life. But, when he hadn’t eaten for a week and a half, it was hard to remain in check.
After he composed himself, he turned his head to answer Reed’s question. “Since yesterday. You?” he replied, copper eyes giving the Akalak a once over. He had to have been pretty removed from Sunberth to be in the position he was in, and well-fed by the looks of it.

[Reed]

Reed mulled over the name. It was distinctly familiar to him, though he couldn’t place it. He’d run into a great many people over the years, but certain names stood out from repetition. Reacher was one of those. However, when he searched his mind for where he might have heard it, he was coming up blank. He would have to remember to ask about that once he got his other questions out of the way.

When they sat down to eat, he saw further truth of the Gael’s claim as he dug into the plate in front of him. It reminded him of what it was like to come out of one of the darkest periods of his life. He wondered if Gael had a similar story. With a moment to just sit and look at him, not focused on anything else, he picked up on the unusual tint of his eyes. Another question shelved for later. For now he settled for formalities.

“I’ve been here for close to two years.” He said after a moment, considering his next question. “Before that, I was a brawler in the pits. Not my proudest moment, but we all got to come from somewhere.” Reed hesitated as he added that last part, torn between wanting to lay some common ground between them, and a deep desire not to linger on this topic for long. With a slight grimace, he posed his next question. “What sort of work are you familiar with?” He asked in the most neutral tone he could muster.

Not that he was particularly worried about the answer. People who came to Syliras didn’t often seek it out to stir up trouble. They came for reasons like he did. Because they had no other place to go. Looking at the young man, he hoped his hunch was right. Merdem seemed to think this all of this effort was foolish, and thought he was leaning too hard on the Sunberth angle. Of course, Reed ignored Merdem’s jaded reasoning for now. Reed had hope in the Gael, and wanted to come back to the Ser with something to show for his efforts. With a patience born through countless drills, Reed sat and listened to Gael while he decided on which question he would ask next. While Gael was speaking, he did concede to order them both a mug of ale, which he nursed as the stranger told his side of things.

[Gael Reacher]

Reed revealed he’d been in Syliras around 2 years and Gael nodded. That would make sense he supposed. Sunberth wasn’t an easy upbringing to leave behind, something he was finding out more and more each day. But, being out for what was essentially the entirety of Gael’s lifespan would be a pretty reasonable amount of time to knock yourself onto a different course.

The Kelvic froze when Reed mentioned the pits. No, not just mentioning the pits. Mentioning being a brawler in the pits. Gael looked at him, his face a carefully placed straight line mask, hiding his shock. They were from two separate worlds, then, even if they were born in the same place. He was not so ignorant to not think he was one of the privileged few in Sunberth, and while he had done some monstrous things, he had never been forced to do them. What kind of person that made him he didn’t want to dwell on for too long. The thoughts already haunted his dreams enough.

Gael also hesitated for a moment when he was asked about the work he was familiar with. He knew it was a double-edged sword and he knew the reason he was being asked. Of course it was reasonable to ask. Reed knew nothing about him, other than that he’d just been caught stealing a loaf of bread and came from one of the most notoriously chaotic cities in the world. Hell, he’d have been surprised if he hadn’t asked. But that didn’t mean he liked it. The things the man had done of his own free will were, in the eyes of many, horrendous. Any affiliation with the gangs in Sunberth implicitly meant an affiliation with death and murder, an affiliation with danger.
He gripped the mug tighter.

”I worked as protection with my father…for the pits. We’re both wolf Kelvics. Highest offer got our service and we did whatever came along with it,” he replied after a minute. He connected his eyes with the other man’s, searching his face for an initial reaction before adding, “Not my proudest moment, but we all got to come from somewhere.”

He’d left Sunberth for a reason. He wanted to turn over a new leaf, find out more about the part of him that was different from his family. The part of him that wanted something more out of life. He couldn’t erase what he’d already done, and he’d be lying if he said that he lost sleep over all of the men he’d killed, but that was before. This was now, and now he needed to convince Reed that he wasn’t there to ransack his village like a fiery dragon.