Now What?... (Open)

by **Alenias** on March 29th, 2011, 8:06 pm

Season of Spring, Day 21, 511 AV

Alenias didn't even know where she was anymore. It was somewhere in Ravok, but not anywhere she would have easily recognized even if she had been paying full attention. She was not paying attention though, her eyes dull and unfocused, as she wandered the streets. Wearing her dirty and tattered cloak, and looking equally dirty and disheveled herself, it seemed most people were simply thinking of her as a filthy street rat. It was unlikely they would think that if they knew of the heavy bag of coins she clutched tightly in both hands, hidden within the darkness of her cloak.

She had no idea what to do anymore. Treanas was gone, dead because of her, and she had spent many days trying to do what Siriana said he would want. She had cried, eaten, slept, and explored like she used to, but the emptiness had just grown within her. She needed Treanas, but since he was gone she hoped to find someone else. So she had gone to Dervish, hoping the bag of shinnies would get him to help her, but that had not happened. She couldn't think of anything else, and so she was wandering the streets in a daze.

OOCThis thread is for the purpose of getting Alenias connected with someone new to bond with. Whether that person is kind, cruel, or out to use her does not matter to me.

Feel free to PM me with questions if ya want, but I'd like to not plan out too much. I think it's much more fun to just let things happen.

by **Aello** on March 29th, 2011, 11:03 pm

"What do you mean Yune?" Aello asked as the bird continued to chirp in her left ear. "But how could you be hungry? You just had a whole pile of berries, and a long drink of water." The bird chirped some more. "You know Yune, you seem to eat more than your average burly gentleman." Chirp Chirp! Aello sighed. "You're a bloody bottomless pit you know," Aello muttered as she pulled her hood down a little with her right hand. She wanted it to block out the blazing sun. Sometimes, it was just too bright, and it hurt her eyes.

The young spiritist weaved randomly through the city streets. She had no destination in mind. "If you keep eating like you do love, you'll have to be rolled around everywhere. Or carried," Aello added. "Heck, you may even explode and get all your little birdie guts everywhere." The girl turned left and continued down a narrow street, lined with the large, wooden walls of several buildings. "Now you don't want that to happen love, do you?" Aello asked with a slight chuckle. "Exploding doesn't sound like much fun now does it?" Of course, the girl didn't honestly believe her companion would explode should she eat to much, but she doubt Yune would know that.

Chirp Chirp the bird sang. Aello rolled her eyes. "You can eat again a little later love. There is no time for that now," she said as she turned down another street. There weren't many people out today, which made it easy for the young spiritist to travel through the city largely unnoticed. She kind of liked that. It felt nice to know that for once she wasn't being followed. Or at least, it felt nice not to think she was. Someone could always be following her and she hadn't noticed.

Suddenly uncomfortable, the girl peered over her shoulder. Nope, no one is bothering to follow you today. Aello let out the breath she didn't even realize that she had been holding in. "That's a relief," she whispered, as she gripped her bow a little more tightly. Her bright green veins were starting to pop, and her knuckles were turning white about the edges. Even though there was no one tracking her, the girl felt uneasy. She always did nowadays, and most of the time, she knew why. But sometimes, on days like today, she had no idea what was wrong with her. There was no reason for her to be afraid, to tread lightly, was there?

by **Alenias** on March 30th, 2011, 7:50 pm

As Alenias continued to wander the streets something cut through the haze and darkness that surrounded her. A high, sweet voice singing out in the distance. She couldn't tell what it was saying, but just the voice itself was so nice and pleasant sounding that she turned and began following the sound of the voice. By instinct she called out in her own twittery song, "Hello!"

She was too far, and her throat too dry, and so the other voice didn't hear her. She started to walk quicker, wanting to find this voice. Maybe they could help her find someone! Even with her dirty and worn down appearance the faintest hint of a smile appeared on her lips at the thought of meeting someone she could be with like Treanas.

"You should try and enjoy the sun more."

Alenias was getting closer! She could make out what the voice was saying now. Walking as quickly as her tired and sore body would carry her she opened her mouth to call out again as she turned a corner, but her voice caught in her throat as she saw not just the bird who had been speaking before, but the woman whose shoulder the bird sat on walking towards her. At least, Alenias thought it was a woman, but she was smaller than Alenias. She rarely saw someone shorter than her that wasn't a child.

For a few moments she stood in the street staring at the short woman and the bird on her shoulder unsure of what to do. Treanas had told her never to talk to birds in front of people because they would want to catch her then, and the woman had a bow tightly gripped in her hand. She wasn't sure she could run away fast enough to get away from a bow.

Maybe the woman would be nice, because the bird was riding on her shoulder, and so Alenias took a step forward. Her dark eyes flitting back and forth between the woman and the bird she finally spoke softly, "Hello."

by **Aello** on March 30th, 2011, 10:32 pm

Chirp Chirp! "Yes, Yune, it is apparent your eyes are fixated on the cloak, trying to bore their way through to skin. There is no need to mention it love. No need to remind the person that carries you around everywhere," Aello paused. "You can quit distracting her and attempting to add to her paranoia." Chirp Chirp! Aello turned to her bird. "That wasn't what you were trying to do, you say?" Aello commented. Yune continued to chirp at the woman. The bird's beak was level with Aello's bottom lip. "You know, not many people speak sparrow. Birds such as yourself obviously do love, but people, not so much. For all we know, you could be saying how annoying we are. How we talk too much or are far too cautious. Paranoid even." Aello paused. "You know love, you could say a lot of things and we wouldn't even know the difference."

Aello turned left down another street before she spoke again. "But then again, perhaps birds such as yourselves have no idea what it is that people say. Perhaps we both have no idea what the other is saying, and simply guess, or make it up." Aello sighed. One-sided conversation with a bird. Surely you haven't quite lost it yet old girl. The bird chirped. "If only there was a way we could each understand each other Yune, life would be far easier. There wouldn't be this constant back and forth where at least one of us isn't sure if she's entirely missing the point." Another deep sigh escaped Aello's lips, as she was pulled out of her long conversation with her bird. Standing before her in little more than rags was a teenage girl. She looked to be a little younger than Aello, but by no more than four years. She was slightly taller, and also, a little heavier, but not by much. She had pale blonde hair and a pointy nose. Her eyes seemed a little small, and, black?

"Hello," Aello said, as she stared through the hood of her cloak at the girl. It had been quite some time since someone had stopped Aello on the street. In fact, the girl wasn't so sure she could remember the last time that had happened. It wasn't exactly a typical sort of occurence, unless you accidently bumped into someone, in which case, you were in store for a proper scolding. Several hey kid, watch where you're going. *grumble grumbles* Aello narrowed her eyes for a moment, why would a younger girl stop her to say little more than the word "hello?" Is she lost? Does she want something from us?

A long, slender arm lifted away from Aello's side. A pale hand, with long, delicate fingers reached for the front of the hood. The fingers wrapped around the wool fabric, and pulled the hood off of her face before returning to Aello's side. "Hello," Aello replied as she stared into the girl's eyes. They seemed strangely distant to Aello. "Are you lost or something?" she asked. She was breathing evenly in through her nose and out through her mouth when a mustard yellow mist appeared around the girl. Dark grey splotches, they looked like paint splatters, were scattered throughout her aura. She seems like a sickly sun. Aello blinked once to get the aura to go away. That should break the level of concentration enough. When her eyes opened again, Aello's pupils had dilated. She is nervous, the mustard color tells us that. The overlay signifies her being guarded. "Do you need help finding your way around?" Aello added, ignoring what she had just seen for the time being.

OOCStuff in bold is what Aello is thinking.

Also, if you don't like the colors I used for your aura, just tell me and I can switch stuff around.

by **Alenias** on March 31st, 2011, 1:59 pm

When the woman's arm started to move Alenias took a half step back, wondering if she was going to start pulling out an arrow to shoot at Alenias. All she did instead was pull her hood down and say hello. When the woman then asked if Alenias was lost the girl gave a nod of her head. The woman seemed nice, and that was good, but Dervish had seemed nice. She didn't want to find someone like Dervish again.

The woman stared at Alenias for a moment, and Alenias looked back. Her eyes kept flitting over to the bird on the woman's shoulder though. She couldn't see anything holding the bird in place, and it was definitely alive, so it was there because it wanted to be. She wanted so much to talk to the bird, to ask it if the woman was nice, but Treanas words, with the memory of that bad man, kept her silent.

When the woman asked if Alenias needed help finding her way around Alenias gave a shake of her head. After a moment she spoke again, this time a little louder than when she had said hello, "I need to find someone," her lip trembled slightly for a moment, and then everything came tumbling out, "I need to find someone like Treanas because he's dead and it's my fault, but he wanted me to get the dagger away and I did, and Siriana said he wanted me to live but it's so empty without him," tears started to run down her cheeks at all the unpleasant memories, tracing lines through the dust and dirt that covered her cheeks, "I thought Dervish would be nice, he was nice before, but he wasn't now and I couldn't stay with him, and I just... I..." she trailed off as she started to sob softly, her head drooping down as her body trembled.

Why was it so hard to find someone like Treanas? She wished she could remember how she had found him in the first place, but that was such a very long time ago. Until he had died, Alenias couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been with Treanas.

by **Aello** on March 31st, 2011, 2:49 pm

Well then, if she doesn't need directions, then why is she saying hello? Is she trying to steal something off Aello? Nah, she couldn't be, everything worth stealing is in her bag, which is tucked away on her back. It is unlikely she'd be able to wrestle the bow away, and the dagger, should she ever figure out where that lies, always returns to us. So it has to be something else. Soon enough the girl had her answer. She shifted her weight from her right to her left foot and smiled uneasily. Dealing with crying people was never something she was good at.

"Shhhh Shhh. Calm down," Aello said as Yune flew off her shoulder and onto that of the girl. The bird tip-toed to the edge of the girl's shoulder, closest to her face, and stretched her body as far as she could. Delicately, the bird began to rub its tiny cheeks against the girls. Strange, she has never done that before. "Yune uh... seems to like you," Aello commented as she shifted her weight again, and waited to see if the girl said anything. Perhaps she didn't like birds. After she had waited for a few moments, Aello asked, "so what was this Treanas guy like? You seem to talk about him rather fondly. Was he your brother or something? A close friend?"

There was another slight pause, "and how could you be responsible for his death? You couldn't be older than sixteen, right? However could a young person have done so much?" Aello inquired. Unless they were part of the stryfe, which she doesn't seem to be. They'd never want someone who cries so much, who feels any sort of grief or remorse. "And this dagger, what is that all about? There doesn't seem to be anything on you? And Siriana, who is she? A sister? Another friend?" Aello simply stared at the girl as she cried. Was this some sort of trick? Or was she simply unloading? If it was the latter, why was Alenias unloading on her? What exactly, made Aello so special and worth approaching?

"Shhh, you should just take a minute to breath in through the nose out through the mouth," Aello continued. "You know, take deep breaths. Let yourself calm down enough where you can start at the beginning. Or as close to the beginning as you can remember. Ok?" Aello chuckled nervously as Yune returned to her left shoulder. "And if it makes you feel any better, we beat Dervish up in a bar fight last season... he really is a strange sort of individual. Not a very gifted fighter." Aello laughed again, as her eyes seemed to sparkle. She knew she shouldn't brag, or enjoy other's pain as much as she did. But Dervish was being an asshole, and certainly had deserved it.

OOCOh the joys of knowing just about everyone in town...

by **Alenias** on March 31st, 2011, 5:36 pm

As the woman told her to calm down Alenias' sobs died down to sniffles. Feeling a small weight on her shoulder she turned her head, and watched as the bird that had been on the woman's shoulder stretched out and nuzzled against her cheek softly. She knew than that this woman was nice, because a nice bird like Yune, as the woman called her, would not be with someone mean.

"Thank you Yune," Alenias chirped softly to the bird before giving a final sniff and turning her gaze back up to the woman. She listened quietly to the woman's questions, all signs of nervousness gone. She had to be a nice woman, so she wouldn't try and catch Alenias. Even if she did want to catch her though, Alenias was starting to wonder what was so bad about being caught. At least then she would have someone...

Doing as the woman said Alenias took several breaths in through her nose, and then out through her mouth before she started talking again, "Treanas was really nice, smart, and he took care of me for as long as I can remember," a faint smile touched Alenias' lips as she remembered the fun times with Treanas, "He was my friend, and told me everything I should and shouldn't do. I would've done anything for Treanas..."

Alenias' smile faded as she continued to speak, fresh tears coming to her eyes, "But it was my fault he died. Trevinus had caught him and did horrible horrible things to him, but Treanas wouldn't tell him about the dagger. Then Trevinus caught me," her head dropped in shame, "And brought me to Treanas. Trevinus was going to do something to me, and Treanas told him about Siriana and the dagger. He didn't want to tell Trevinus, but he did because I was there! Even though I would have died for him!"

She gave another couple of angry sobs at the reminder of the pain and guilt she felt from Treanas' death, but she calmed them with breaths in the nose and out the mouth as the woman had told her before. Still, her voice trembled slightly as she continued the story, "The last thing Treanas told me was to go and make sure Trevinus didn't get the dagger. I went and found Siriana, told her about Trevinus, and then we ran. Trevinus chased us across the water, but we hid in the forest, and then the man took the dagger away for Priskil. I asked Siriana what I should without Treanas and she said he wanted me to live. I've tried to do that for so many days now, but it only hurts more..."

Slowly she lifted her gaze back up from the floor, looking at the woman with pleading eyes, "I need someone like Treanas. You're a nice person like Treanas," remembering the bag clutched tightly in her hands she held it out for the woman to see, "And I have lots of shinnies. All the shinnies I got for Treanas. Will you take care of me?"

by **Aello** on March 31st, 2011, 6:09 pm

Take care of her? Aello stood nervously. Taking care of people wasn't something she did. She had always been a loner, and now, there was this strange little girl standing before her simply begging for attention. She seemed cute enough, scared enough, and she was offering money. Why money though? To care for someone? Slowly, Aello raised her right hand and pushed the money away from her. "There's no need for that little one." Aello paused. "You may want to put it away too before one of the lousy street rats tries to take it from you." She laughed, "although it'd be fun to chase them around the city to retrieve your affects, it surely doesn't seem like you're up for such a thing."

There was a slight pause as Aello shifted her weight again. "Now, who is this Trevinus?" she inquired. "He sounds like quite the bully, now doesn't he Yune?" The bird chirped a few times. "Glad you agree," the girl commented with a slight smile. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling. Well it sure seems that if nothing else, this girl is going to provide you with something to do for a few days. "If you'd like little one, we could always help you get your dagger back." The girl turned to her bird. "We're not very fond of your average thief now are we Yune?" The bird chirped. "Especially when they pick on little girls and their friends." With that, Aello turned back to Alenias.

"You mentioned hiding in the forest," Aello continued. "The ones around here are familiar enough. If Siriana is still around, we could always bring you to her. If that's what you want... we could always work something out, you know, to help you." Well you do need to go out there and find something decent to eat anyway. Perhaps this will be little more than a detour. "So what do you say little one? Or would you prefer we stay in the city, and the stranger and the bird you just met out of it?"

Strangely enough, the girl had no real problem looking after Alenias, at least for a little bit. It shouldn't be too difficult killing somebody else and taking a dagger from them. Then of course, giving it back to Alenias, right? As for the compliment about her nature, Aello ignored it. After all, how nice was she really when she cared for the dead far more than the living? When she detested chaos, and yet, spread it by killing in order to serve out the wishes of those long gone? How kind, how good was she really?

OOCSorry I am posting so quickly. A lot of my threads just wrapped up, so I have a lot of free time.

by **Alenias** on March 31st, 2011, 7:06 pm

Alenias looked at the woman in confusion as she pushed the shinnies away, and then said they were Alenias'. Giving an adamant shake of her head she replied, "No, the shinnies were for Treanas, but he's gone now. Dervish said that he wanted shinnies, so I brought them to give to him... but when he said he wouldn't take care of me I took them."

She gave another shake of her head when the woman asked if she wanted help getting the dagger back, "No, I never held the dagger, and it was Siriana's friend who took it. I think it's very far away now, which is what Treanas wanted," she gave a small hint of a smile at that, at least she had managed to do the last thing Treanas asked of her.

Again she shook her head when the woman talked about Siriana, "Siriana is not in the forest anymore. She went back to the House of Immortal Pleasures, and I asked her to take care of me but she said that a girl like me shouldn't be where she was."

When the woman mentioned leaving Alenias in the city she shook her head frantically, tears welling up in her eyes, "No, please no. I don't want to be alone anymore, I can't be alone anymore!" in a panic she tried to figure out what she could do to get the woman to like her if she didn't want the shinnies, "I... I could be a bird like Yune! Then I'd be small and I could be really quiet and I'd only do what you wanted me to. Please don't leave me alone..."

OOCNo worries, I'm waitin on people in most of my threads and work is calm, so I've got time.

by **Aello** on March 31st, 2011, 8:41 pm

"Well, you don't need to give anyone anything for them to stick around you know," Aello commented. "At least if they're half-way decent company." There was a slight pause. "Now, if you don't need help with the dagger that's alright. It gives us one less thing to do, now doesn't it?" Another pause. "Now as for Dervish, he really isn't one to care about anyone but himself, don't you mind him." Another pause as the girl started to cry again. NOOOOOO! Aello doesn't know how to handle tears. Please stop with the tears. Anything but the tears!

The girl's heart was starting to melt. Aello normally wasn't like that, a softie, perhaps it had to do with her past, but something about this girl made her feel so sorry. "Please stop crying," Aello said, "there is no need for tears, no one is going to leave you." It was then that the last few words the girl had spoken finally hit her. Be like Yune? A clump of saliva had gathered in Aello's throat, and her heart skipped a beat... or two. But how could that be? How could a girl be like a bird? Or a bird like a girl?

Aello lifted her right hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, before returning her hand to her side again. She cleared her throat. "You don't have to be alone. You can travel with us for a while..." Aello's voice trailed off. She realized she didn't know what to call her. Certainly "little one" wouldn't do for very long. Aello shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Do you, uh, use magic or something? You don't like morph or anything do you? Or shape-shift?" How else could she become a bird as she claims? She has to use magic, doesn't she?

OOCYes, my pc is quite clueless. It's kind of painful. But um, if you mention being a kelvic, it may spark a memory... she has suppressed a lot. Or you could just shift, either way. *shrugs*