Y.Z. [PG-16]

Lance Penderson was speechless. For anyone who knew the first thing about the crotchety old veteran, this would have been enough of a sign to deduce that something was terribly, terribly wrong. Lance Won't-freakin'-shut-up Penderson had always been the one to get the last word. Even on the battlefield where one of his lungs was impaled by a spear had he managed to slur out a stream of profanities about his enemy's mother, even after consuming enough alcohol to stun a donkey, long beyond the point where his brain had kept up, he had managed to mumble something incomprehensible, and no-one had yet to manage the feat of having him shut up about his war wounds - especially the left wing which ached like you wouldn't believe - but now...

The old man rubbed his eyes in disbelief, staring at his grimy fingers and trying to will them into looking like ten in a desperate attempt to dismiss the bizarre sight in front of him as another figment of his alcohol-addled mind. Much to his dismay, the fingers remained disappointingly in focus and a quick search through the pockets of his dirty bomber jacket confirmed that his spare comfort bottle remained firmly corked. The being in front of him - this wisp-like girl with her teal hair, wide, innocent puppy dog eyes and the belt of notebooks wound a full two times around her waist which seemed almost as thin as the length of rope holding the journals together - was indeed as real as everything else in the world. Yet she had done what was supposed to have been impossible: she had listened. Not only that, she had paid attention. For what must surely have been several hours, this peculiar apparition had just sat there and listened with an expression of intense concentration spread across her child-like face, everything from his war-time memories to his personal grudge list and regular moans she had listened to, and as if this wasn't enough she had asked for clarifications, specifics on the countless ailments - both imaginary and real - he had moaned about and to top it all off she had even offered him an ointment of her own design, which - she promised - should clean the wound right up, all the while scribbling down notes without even glancing at the words she put on paper. Normally, Lance would just have reached for his bottle and drunk himself out of the situation, but...well, this was a child, wasn't it? He may have been a foul-mouthed and miserable wretch, but somewhere at the back of the dark and unexplored reaches of his mind - albeit probably pickled in watered-down counterfeit vodka like the rest of his mind - his pride was still alive; he would not suffer the indignity of being outlasted by someone one fourth his age, especially someone with as flimsy a name as Faewyn.

This called for strategy, and when the stranger made a bad turn with the pencil - immediately spawning a small bruise on one of her knuckles - the old man lunged at the opportunity with the fervor of a drowning man spotting that last straw of grass which might just - by some unfathomable stretch of faith - support his weight.

"Gel, 'ave ya' 'ad dat fo' long?!" he exclaimed, pointing dramatically at the tiny bruise.

"Hmm?" Faweyn blinked, examining the abrasion with polite curiosity, "No, I just got it."

"No, no, not dat!" the old man croaked in what he himself considered pretty damn good fake astonishment, grasping the finger with his grimy hands, "I mean, d'ya get does a lot?"

"All the time." the girl replied airily, "It's just a little bruise."

"No!" Lance barked, "No, it ain't gel! Dat's wut a lot of 'em think, but it ain't! Dat dere's the first symptom of antioxymoronisilicosis! If ya' don't get dat treated right away it'll melt away all yer neurons fast as ya blink!"

"Really?" Faewyn gasped, here eyes widening in awe. Inwardly, the veteran sighed in relief. The hook was in place, now he'd just have to reel it in.

"I wouldn't tell ya no bull, gel!" he replied, vigorously rising up on his feet - and feeling the slight backlash of pain from the left one of his ragged, gray-feathered wings for doing so - and grasping one of the girl's arms to tow her along, "Don't talk, it'll only make it spread faster. Then you'll get all 'ese 'orrible spasms an'-"

He was cut off short as the sky suddenly flashed yellow, the thin girl flinching and nearly tumbling over. This was just too much for the old man. That ailment he had talked about, it was just made up, right? It wasn't like the bizarre concoctions of his mind were coming to life now, RIGHT?! No, of course it wasn't; all of it was obviously caused by this odd stranger, as soon as he put some well-needed distance between himself and her everything would go back to being normal again.

"See?!" he cried, "It's startin' already, gel! Don't move a muscle, I'll take ya' somewhere where 'ey can 'elp!"

With that, Lance promptly picked the girl up in a fireman lift, amazed by just how light she felt, and sprinted across the fields towards a house he knew in the distance. Yes, the Florinens had a thing for playing good Samaritans, didn't they? No doubt they'd take in the strange girl-child without question. At least...he hoped so. After all, this could really be serious, and he certainly didn't want a dead kid on his conscience at this point of his life.

The guilt welled up more and more in the old man as he came closer and closer to the building, his heartbeat quickening in panic. What if he didn't make it? What if the girl really died? What if everyone would think it was his fault? So flustered was he with these thoughts that he barged in without knocking, immediately charging through the front door and into the guest rooms.

"Quick!" he roared as loudly as his worn lungs would permit, "This gel' went all weak and faint like an' I didn't do anythin' to her but she just went like this when the sky flashed an' I thought I'd better bring 'er 'ere 'cause ye know more about 'ese thins' 'an I do an'-" he paused, his eyes finally catching up with his mind as he saw all the housefolk gathered in the room, just before his eyes shifted to Rosaline and Reid.

"Wat?" he rasped, despair etched in his features, "Wat' the 'ell is goin' on 'ere?". Faewyn, meanwhile, was observing the whole situation in her usual placid manner, offering everyone a friendly smile, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her head was lolling upside-down over the old man's shoulder, pencil and notebook still grasped in her hands. She was practically dying to say something, but in her current condition that wouldn't be good, would it? The spasm had really only hurt for a moment, but what if it was recursive? Her forehead did feel a bit sore, but without a mirror she couldn't check. Ohh...how she wished that she could write this all down right now, but that wouldn't do either. Hopefully the nice woman hanging from the ceiling would heal her quickly; Faewyn had a feeling that whatever she had just felt would be very important for "Faewyn's Complete Guide to Everything" and she didn't want to forget a bit.

The clang of steel rang out time after time as the guard forced me to back up slowly, step by step. I had a small goldpurse clutched in my teeth from my last murder, but the guard had found me before I could get away. I had to keep him occupied before he could give the alarm. But he had seen me that meant I couldn't let him walk away alive...

He used a full straight sword with both hands, and automatically assumed that would give him an advantage, especially on a straight wall. I had to finish this quickly, before another patrol came, and he was good. I saw him preparing for an overhead strike, and quickly fell to my knees, bracing myself, allowing me to block the heavy blow as it crashed down. Surprised that his blow hadn't cut me in two, I forced myself up quickly, striking him in the face with my studded "glove" for my stump. Now, it wasn't as good as a gauntlet, but iron studs hitting you in the face have always hurt. He stumbled backwards, and the balance of the battle shifted catastrophically.

Now constantly trying to recover from my chain of fast strikes, he was the one who was moving. A sword that big and heavy was harder to block quickly. If he let his blocking slip long enough to attack, I'd run him through. My time was running out, I had to hurry. This close to the Alta border, patrols were very regular. Taking a risk, I stepped forward, making a lunging strike. Immediately, he brought his arms and blade down to block me, and I grinned as I stepped forward, turning as I did so. I caught the quillons of his blade against my edge with the blade braced over my shoulder, giving me more leverage than two hands would've, flinging it off into the night as I spun around, my blade flying over my shoulder, around my torso, and straight into his throat. He seized as a small trickle of blood began flowing from my strike, but no scream. I hadn't hit his jugular, but his windpipe. I couldn't afford a shout.

Strangely, as I did so, I felt a sharp pain in my head, not much worse than my usual headaches though, and the guards eyes moved to my forehead with shock. Then they lost their focus, glazing over as life fled from him. I drew my blade out, not bothering to wipe it off. I only kneeled long enough to pluck up a loose stone from the top of the wall, and set out into the night on near silent wings. I began to focus Eation into the stone, smoothing one surface continually, until it was as smooth as a mirror. It was a mirror. In the middle of my forehead, almost, but not quite obscured by my hair was a small dot, a deeper brown than my hair, nearly black. And it seemed to sparkle slightly, almost like a rich ore...

OOC: Lex, accepted. Yay for short crappy posts. XD

Some say dreams feed off of a person's memories and project these memories back into a person's mind when they sleep, the person's state of mind affecting whether or not the memories are twisted into something surreal. Others say dreams do not exist at all, but rather they are figments of man's imagination, produced for no reason at all. Whether dreams are real or not doesn't really change the messages they try to relay to us. Anyone who has ever had a deja vu before could tell you that.

"Honey! What did he do to you!? Where are your- OH MY GOD!" The feminine voice cried out, not even fazing the boy before her. It was pouring rain amidst a lush forest, and it was difficult to see that the boy was crying. Another voice boomed, "You understand what this means, right? We have to..." Everything went dark, the boy left alone in eternal darkness. Then, all he could hear was voices, voices everywhere...

"Okay, who let a drunk in my roo- ...Aw, crap." Reid said in a tone that demanded attention, although coming from a kid that was hard to obtain. He looked around frantically, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Rosaline sleeping nearby. Even still, they were in a strange house, with strange people all around. He made an approximation based on his location when he fell unconscious. "Is this... Alta?" He got out of the neatly made bed, and stood before the group, grabbing his board from nearby and placed it on his back. "My name is Reid Davies, I'm with the Tealian Special Forces... I'd show you my badge if I could find it..." He repeatedly checked his pockets over and over again, his face turning redder every time. Crap, it must have blown away when we fell... This was actually more problematic than it seemed, because chances were nobody would believe this kid was with the Tealian forces. "A-anyways, thank you, but we really must go, I have to get this girl to a rendezvous soon..." He walked over to the bed with Rosaline in it, and noticed a peculiar yellow dot on her forehead. Of course, he wasn't aware he had a green one on his. "I will have the Tealian forces send a reasonable reward to this house, but due to the circumstances surrounding Alta right now, I REALLY need to get her out of here."

OOC: LUL, I'm so confused as to what's going on, so forgive me if this post seems to have no direction. < <;;

For the entire day, Alicel had busied herself with gardening, keeping a peeled eye for soldiers. But as usual, the town which could be reached only by a very unpleasant path had few visitors, and the Florinen family, (thanks to Alicel's short visit,) in as good graces with Carn as someone in a conquered country could be, was not intruded upon by anyone of Carn descent, other then the sacrifice. But Ella had called her inside with a basket of carrots and potatoes and celery earlier today, to help with dinner. But they were then intruded upon ever more by a man from town, with a girl over his shoulder. Alicel stared with light surprise at the girl who smiled at her from the man's shoulder. Was that position the best note-taking position for her to be in? How strange...

"Lance, breaaaathe." Reks said smiling as he took a few steps to the door, "It seems that tonight is going to be rather busy, as we have two kids who just fell out the sky!" Laughing to himself, he moved past Lance, "Would you like some vegetable soup? We have some leftover, I'll heat it up. I'm sure everyone's hungry at such a late hour."

"Oh, Alicel, will you help your father? He'll end up blowing the stove away, like last time. Then it'd be best for you to dish out lets see... seven bowls? Well, maybe just five, seeing as the other two are still sleeping." Ella said holding up five fingers to Alicel, who smiled and nodded, hurrying to the kitchen and starting a fire underneath the stove.

"I'll get the bowls~" Reks said, lifting his cane.

"No!" Alicel stopped him hastily, "That's alright, I'll get them. You go and... find more blankets for another bed, how's that?"

Reks smiled, "Sounds peachy!" And he clunked away to search through the closets. Sighing in relief after saving seven bowls, Alicel lined them up neatly around the table as she pulled out a metal ladle, and stirred the soup which had sat covered where it was for the past hour. Making sure it wasn't scalding hot, Alicel quickly dished out five bowls of soup, and placed four on a tray, before lifting it and carrying it into the guest bedroom, which seemed to be the new congregation room.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Reid, this is Alta, and you need not go to the trouble of finding your badge, nobody here will doubt you for a second. You are, after all, with the Carn Sacrifice, for whatever reason." Reks was saying after Reid had finished talking, introducing everyone as common courtesy, "I am Reks, this is a friend, Lance, and seemingly a friend of his, the girl over his back, and this is my wife Ella. Ah, and at the door now is Alicel-" However, his wife quickly interuppted him at this point.

"Oh, but, are you sure you want to leave right away? The poor girl's still sleeping!" Ella was saying, not quite through playing hostess, as she moved over to place the tray in Alicel's hands on the now cluttered nightstand, "After all, we should at least let her change into some proper clothes before you leave. Or perhaps have a bowl of soup? Alicel's gone to the trouble of heating it back up."

"If the boy wants to leave Ella," Reks said, carrying a huge mess of blankets, "Then we shouldn't hold him back. Perhaps he's in hurry to meet the Taelian forces."

"Or maybe he's being pursued by Carn soldiers." Alicel muttered to herself sarcastically, saying the only logical and obvious point that Ella and Reks seemed not to register. But she quickly replaced her sweet mask. What a dawdling family. The kid and the sacrifice wanted to leave, but Ella was still insisting on them staying. It wasn't as if Carn soldiers came knocking on our door everyday, but this was a special case. But Ella seemed to have come to ends with her unavoidable predicament.

"If you would like," Alicel said sweetly, "You can have that nightdress, so she'll have something a little nicer to wear once she wakes up."

"Err... Alright Bardrin, let's get this right." Bardrin raised his mighty great sword with both hands. This simple task was getting harder and harder as the day passed by because of the weight of the metal weapon. His arms were sore from swinging the blade repeatedly at the giant trees in the forest where the soldier trained for two weeks of every month. So far he had been able to chop down three trees with nothing but his great sword in one day, but he was hopping for at least two more before the sun hit just below the horizon to end the day.

The brown blade reflected what little light made it's way through the thick brush of leaves the trees carried. "I think I have about three more hours before nightfall hits," Bardrin grumbled to himself. He looked at the damaged three that stood before him. "We're going to cut this one down and then quickly finish off the one that sits to it's right." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he lunged forward at the tree.

Bardrin swung the blade, hitting the tree and cutting into the right of the light grey bark. "Not good enough. Hit it harder," Bardrin thought to himself just before he hit the tree trunk. The soldier jumped up and hit the tree in the same motion, this time with more power behind the swing. He could hear the sound of wood and metal striking each other as he made a quick combo by pushing himself up by using a nearby branch and then striking it higher up. Bardrin threw the great sword to the ground and flipped off of the branch and onto the ground below. To his amazement, he had landed before the blade and got to watch as the sharp end quickly stuck itself into the soft ground.

Before picking up the sword, Bardrin looked up at the tree to see his work thus far. Not much of deference, but you could see two deep gashes in the side of the large oak. "This time I should be able to slice completely through." Bardrin coughed and pulled his sword out of the ground. Time to finish off the three, but first he had to focus. Once again he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Like before, his eyes snapped open and he ran as fast as his large body would carry him at the wooden plant.

Bardrin jumped just a few feet away from the tree and continued to run up the tree's trunk until he reached the section with the largest gash. "You're finished!" Bardrin launched his final attack, but before he could make his final attack a sudden shock through his head made him roar out in pain. He threw the blade off to the side and went to push off of the tree. Another shock of pain went off in his head and before he could reach the ground, Bardrin fainted and hit the ground flat on his back.


"Mr. Karson sir. Wake up Mr. Karson sir."

Bardrin opened his eyes slowly and looked up to see a woman he knew from the town he lived in. Her name was Anavilia Pupitson, but everyone called her Anna. She was a very old lady, some guessed she was the oldest in the town and that wouldn't be hard to believe as she was almost eighty-nine years old. Bardrin sat up almost as slow as he opened his eyes. There she was with a bowl of water by her right side and to her left was her grandson Joseph who was holding another bowl, only this one held tons of nuts and berries.

"Here Mr. Karson, have a glass of water," Anna said. She snapped at her grandson and he pulled a glass cup out of the bowl he was carrying. The old lady pulled a clean white towel out of her pocket and wiped out the glass and then dipped into the water to her right. Bardrin took the glass of water and thanked the nice woman. He quickly put the rim of the glass to his lips and chugged down the cool water.

"It's good to see that you are all right Mr. Karson." Anna took the glass from Bardrin and handed it back to Joseph. "Me and young Joe he saw the whole thing. We were just coming back from the river when we noticed you training as you usually do. We didn't want to walk by incase that great big sword sliced one of us in half so we decided to rest and watch you for a bit. When you went for that last strike we noticed that you threw down your blade and right after that your body turned over and you fell strait down.

"Joseph ran out before me as I'm not as fast as I once was," the old lady continued. "For a second there we thought that you had died because of the fall you had just experienced. Joe here checked for a pulse and any broken bones, but nothing bad seemed to have happed to you. We debated for a few minutes if someone should go get help for you, but neither one of us wanted to leave you out here in the woods so we sat here for about four hours. It wasn't until a few minutes ago that we noticed that you were starting to mumble in your sleep, so we thought that was a sign that you were coming back to your senses. It took us about five minutes to wake you up, but we did it." Anna smiled at Bardrin after she had finished the story.

"Thank you Ms. Anna," Bardrin said weakly. He was currently having a rough time breathing, but that usually happened after he hit the ground from that high up from the ground. "I think we should head back to town as it's now dark. Even though I can see really well in the dark I need to sleep a little bit longer to rest up my sore body." Bardrin slowly got to his feet with the help of Joseph.

"Uh... Mr. Karson. My grandmother forgot to mention one more thing," Joseph said as he backed away to his grandmother's side. "About four hours ago, when he came to check on your condition, there was a black dot in the center of your forehead. I've never seen anything like it, but if you would like to see then you can take a look at your reflection in the bowl of water right here." Joseph picked up the bowl and handed it to Bardrin.

For a second Bardrin thought that Joseph was joking, but it didn't take him long to realize that he was telling the truth. Right in the center of his forehead was a perfectly round black dot. Bardrin rubbed at it thinking that it was nothing but a piece of dirt or something, but it wouldn't come off. "Where the hell did that come from?" Bardrin asked himself.

"REID! WHERE ARE YOU!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The same voice in his ear from the night before boomed into his ear suddenly, and like before it made Reid shift his posture uncomfortably. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET THE SHIP TEN HOURS AGO!" Reid once again sighed, and readjusted the earbud in his ear, before speaking aloud before the group.

"Ten hours? I didn't realize it's been that long. Sorry, I had a little detour. Seems I'm in Alta now, actually. I'll take my punishment when we make it safely back to Meredy..." In a worst case scenario, he'd be locked up for a week or two for screwing up, but since Reid worked under Commander Milo, she'd probably cut him some slack. "So, shall I prepare to leave and then head to the rendezvous, or would the commander rather have me do something else?"

"Ah, good to see you're still alive. The commander was starting to have doubts." Reid rolled his eyes at this statement. Commander Milo treated him like her son, if anything she was in withdrawal from not having him around to preach to. "The commander would like you to wait at your current location for the Raven Claws to pick you up. It probably won't be until morning until they arrive, so I suggest picking a place to stay where Carn troops won't find you. Anyways, ending the transmission!" The earbud went quiet, and Reid looked to the group before him once more.

"So, uh... it seems we'll be staying the night. However, are you sure you want to house us? I'm under the understanding that Carn has control of Alta right now. If they were to find Rosaline here, I can't guarantee your safety..." Rosaline began stirring in her bed, and eventually sat up, a blank stare on her face as she attempted to process what was going on, and where she was. She looked panicked for a moment as she realized she wasn't wearing her usual outfit, and looked to Reid.

"Where's my flute?" She said meekly, and Reid shrugged casually as if it wasn't a big deal. "I need my flute, my flute is me. It's all I have..."

"Fine, fine. Has anyone seen her flute? It was probably with her old clothes..." His head shot up like he had an idea, an ingenious idea! "COULD ANYONE GIVE HER A BATH!?" Any normal person probably would have died laughing at that random outburst. It was almost an offensive way of wording it, as if she was some sort of filth that needed cleansing. Well, she was covered in some sort of filth... "I mean, uh, she's probably very beautiful when she's not covered in so much dirt and grime... Also, is anyone here capable of teaching her how to fly? She has no clue how to use her wings... And is there a town nearby? I need to look into picking up some supplies." Question, requests, more questions. You'd think he'd shut up at some point. This wasn't a charity.

OOC: Shameless amount of powerplaying/bunnyig, but to get things done, I have permission to drag Rosaline here and there. < <;; ... And there and here. We can let Tere-chan deal with the flying. :3 So Faewyn (sp?) has something to do.





Alicel immediately headed for the door when Reid asked if anyone could set a bath for the sacrifice, but she was not as quick as she'd hoped. Ella's vicegrip was already on Alicel's shoulder, dragging her back as she said with a sweet smile and honeyed grin, "Why, of course! Alicel will set the water immediately, and in the meantime, she can wash the nightdress the poor girl is wearing at the moment and give her a new set that's more fit for walking about in. How about your purple skirt and white shirt Alicel? You haven't worn those in awhile! After all, you said yourself that purple doesn't compliment your eyes!"

Alicel masked her face of utter contempt behind a face of kind happiness, "Of course! I'll go start the water now."

Ella smiled back and said, "Thank you, you're such a help."

'No frickin' ay.' Alicel thought ruefully as she walked with a light step out of the room but proceeded to march ungracefully through the halls, muttering to herself after the door to the guest room swung back in place. Water for a bath, and soap and more water and soap for the laundry. Dropping the plug into the drain at the bottom of the tub, Alicel waved her hand up and down as water gushed into the tin tub to her right and the smooth granite tub to her left. She never bothered to use the faucet because the water never gushed out fast enough for her.

Clunking back to the guest room, Alicel poked her head through the door, immediately smearing a smile across her face, "Water's ready."

"Good!" Ella said, lifting up the girl who was still on the bed with ease, and setting her in the doorway like a ragdoll, "I'll go pick out an outfit, how's that??"

"What?" Alicel said, looking around the girl, "That's alright, I can get it-"

"But what if she accidentally drowns??"

"... What?" Alicel repeated, "I have to-"

"You said she's a sacrifice right? Look at her!" Ella said her eyes shining with dramatic tears just to get Alicel to do it without complaint, "The poor girl probably doesn't even know what a bath is!"

Alicel raised an eyebrow, "And if she does, that statement was probably really offensive Ella." Sighing, Alicel put on yet another mask over her original sweet one which was being eaten away by her utter frustration, and took the sacrifice's hand and mostly dragged her to the water room. Maybe if she'd lived as a maid before she'd come to live with the Florinen's, this would be quite so awkward. But, keeping true to a kind sisterly aura, Alicel smiled and said, "I'm sure you'd rather bathe in the granite tub rather then this puny tin one, so uh... I assume you... know what to do..."

She was losing the mask. It was slipping off like jello! BUT... It wasn't as if Alicel was going to tell her, "To take a bath you take off your clothes and get into the water."

"Ugh." Alicel slapped her forehead and hung her head over the steam of the tin tub, the water in the laundry basin at a much higher temperature then the actual bathing tub itself, "I'm going to die of embarassment."

'No! If I look at it this way... She's technically just a sacrifice. Certainly not worth all this embarassment. But nonetheless, I'm sure anyone would feel strange watching someone else take a bath...' Alicel sighed and swallowed her pride.

"So, you er... take off your clothes," She said stiffly, pointing at the tub, "And uh, just soak in the water. You can use soap to get off the grime, and this one over here is for your..." Alicel couldn't help but pause as her stomach flip-flopped at the grime in the sacrifice's hair, "Beautiful navy hair." She finished lamely, mentally slapping herself.

Letting out a huge breath, Alicel felt like she was about to drop dead with exhaustion. What a troublesome sacrifice.

"SO you do that! I'll be back in like, two seconds!" Alicel said, escaping from the room and vowing to shoot Ella for escaping the job. Taking her time to walk from the hall to her room, Alicel slammed the door open hard enough so that there was a quite visible dent in the wall from the doorknob as she trudged over to her closet and pulled out a dark blue skirt that respectively reached the upper arch of Alicel's kneecaps, (the last time she wore them at least,) and an off-white shirt that had a loose collar that sat freely around the tops of her shoulders and around her collarbone. The shirt had never been something Alicel had liked, as exposing her neck was also against Alicel's rules. The shirts sleeves ended a third of the way to her wrists and the small pieces past the elbow were wavy and elegant.

"Sacrifice doesn't deserve such a stylish outfit." Alicel said quietly to herself, "But whatever."

Tossing them into a pile and gathering it all up, along with a pair of socks, Alicel now hurried back, realizing that Ella's statement that the girl could drown was very much valid.

And a good half hour of scrubbing later, (so many years of grime. Alicel could've puked.) the girl was worth presenting.

"Whew!" Alicel said, as she stabbed the white nightdress, T-shirt, and shorts that Rosaline had originally been wearing in the tin tub with a stirring stick, "Well that took a long time. Let's go see if the others approve, okay?" She said, having successfully regained her composure. Tossing the laundry stick over her shoulder without a care of where it landed, Alicel might not've regain all of her composure, but enough of it.

"Where's Ella?" Alicel asked when she'd dragged the sacrifice into the kitchen.

"She took that Reid boy to town. He needed supplies, remember?" Reks said over a glass of warm water, a strange looking flute sitting on the table in front of him.

OOC: Flying instruction from Faewyn? Well, it's Rosaline's funeral. xD Faewyn's the type to answer or explain anything you ask about, so why not? :3

IC:

As the strange boy woke up - announcing that he was a special forces agent - it became even harder for Faewyn to sit still. After all, she has yet to interview an agent and the sheer amount of information that the boy might have been able to procure was staggering. Lance, on the other hand, was not nearly as ecstatic. He didn't need this, he really didn't. Associating with special agents and hunted sacrifices and goodness knew what else was going to give him nothing but trouble and he knew it. Besides, he knew better than to accept anything served by Alicel...especially when she had that look on her face. The others may have mistaken it for genuine happiness, but Lance had experienced enough to notice the ferocious beast snarling behind the bars of that toothpaste-commercial smile and knew that he didn't want to be there when it broke out.

"Nah, nah, don' bother yerselves on mah account." he replied hastily, placing Faewyn on the floor as fast as he could without hurting something, "I should really be goin' already. Lots ta do, busy busy, ya' know?" he began backing off slowly but deliberately, as if a coiled viper had taken up residence in the room and would lash out at the first hasty motion. Noticing the slightly anxious look in Faewyn's eyes, he briefly paused his retreat to clear away the emergency lie:

"Jus' have some soup, gel." he whispered quietly, "It'll clear 'at right up."

Much to his relief, Faewyn nodded, apparently having swallowed the second lie just as unquestioningly as the first.

"Right 'en." Lance remarked, bowing clumsily as a form of courtesy, "I'll be on mah way 'en. Good day an' all." with that and a last wave to everyone in the room, he walked out with carefree calm right to the point where he was sure no-one would hear or see him, after which he ran off as quickly as he could. The Florinens may have been ready to put their necks on the line for complete strangers, but he sure as hell wasn't. He didn't need this. What he needed was a drink; a big one, right about NOW.

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Faewyn, meanwhile, brightened up considerably as Alicel arrived with the soup tray. Carefully placing her writing implements on the floor, she grasped a bowl with both hands and - seemingly oblivious of how hot the soup was - took a fair drink of the liquid and quickly gulped it down. It was hot, really hot, and would most likely leave her tongue stinging for a long while, but Faewyn seemed unbothered by the prospect. After all, this was the cure to the terrifying antioxymoronisilicosis; it probably needed to be like that to kill off the disease. As soon as she had swallowed her gulp, however, Faewyn immediately placed the bowl down on the floor and grabbed her notebook and pencil again, nonchalantly turning her feet into lotus position and balancing the notebook against the small grove formed between her legs. As soon as the notebook was in position, Faewyn's pencil hand darted off into action, beginning to fill the blank paper at a breakneck pace.

"Thank you." she trilled, beaming at the others, "It was so hard not to get to say or write anything, I've got to write this down right now in case I get antioxymoronisilicosis again because I can't write my book if I'm not allowed to move my pencil and I don't think I'd like to lose my neurons either. I'm Faewyn, by the way, Faewyn Ayre; very nice to meet you, you were Ella, Recks, Reid, and Alicel right?" she nodded at each person in turn as she named them, instinctively flipping back the filled page in her notebook and starting out on the next, "I've got to get this right because otherwise it would look really silly when my book gets famous and it turns out that you're called by someone else's name. Wouldn't that be silly? What's in the soup? Is it the ingredients that cure antioxymoronisilicosis or is it because it's scalding hot?" Having finished her first stream of questions, the girl finally took a breath again the intake of fresh air slightly soothing her scalded tongue as she left a dent in the speech department which Reid effectively filled by requesting a bath, a change of clothes, and flying lessons for the as-of-yet-unnamed girl (Faewyn made a mental note to confirm the name a bit later). Alicel was immediately volunteered for the first two, duly ushering the still unnamed little thing out of the room before any more questions could be asked.

"She's...never flown?" Faewyn asked, her eyes wide in astonishment as the full brunt of what she had just heard struck her, "Ohh! I can help with that!" she volunteered enthusiastically, "I've got lots of notes on flying here, just a minute!" hastily scratching down the last of her current notes, Faewyn turned to consulting the multitude of journals around her waist, tracing their worn spines with her right index finger as if the simple feel of the notebooks could tell her of their contents, all the while mumbling quietly under her breath; "Let's see...fashion (A.D.)...FAQs...flamingos...flooring inspectors...I know it's here somewhere. Ah-hah!" she suddenly leapt up with a triumphant expression, detaching one of the countless journals in a well-honed motion and holding it up like a trophy - her index finger placed at a specific point between the pages - "Flying." she remarked matter-of-factly, lowering her hand again. Reid had left without her noticing - a slight disappointment, but not nearly enough to dampen Faewyn's spirits. Noting that the action seemed to have moved into the kitchen, she decided to do the same, arriving just in time to see Alicel walk into the room with the unnamed girl in tow.

"Ohh...how pretty!" Faewyn - never one to avoid displays youthful exuberance when she could help it - exclaimed, clapping her hands. It was true, compared to the ragged, vaguely human mound of dirt that had left the room the girl in front of her was like a completely different person. Well, the solemn expression was still the same, but the bath and the new clothes had made a world of difference.

"Hello." Faewyn said brightly, extending a hand to the still unnamed one, "I'm Faewyn, nice to meet you. What's your name?" Just then, she came to think of what Ella had said before, speaking up again: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You aren't used to handshakes, are you? Don't worry, there's nothing to it; just reach out your hand, grab mine and then shake it up and down a little. It's how we say 'hi'."

Rosaline, well... she was confused as hell, but refrained from saying anything that may accidentally insult the strange people that for some reason, were being nice to her. It was a perfectly natural reaction from someone who had the social experience of a dog that had been abandoned and beaten by people it attempted to take scraps from. After taking that thing - a bath was it? - everything felt foreign to her. The way things felt when she touched them, the feeling and look of her skin and hair. She couldn't help but wonder if that was what beauty was. Why, her hair was even styled now, with the bangs brushed off to the side! And she was wearing normal clothes! Clothes with colour of all things! She was thankful to the girl - Alicel - but couldn't help but get the feeling Alicel didn't like her. She was quickly thrust into contact with another girl, Faewyn, who offered a strange gesture to her, her hand. Rose extended her hand towards Faewyn's curiously, and cautiously took hold of it. Meekly, she shook up and down, introducing herself. "My name is Rosaline... but you can call me Rose if you want." She had noticed her flute earlier, and picked it up and put it away within her outfit. "Umm, where's Reid? I wanted to play my flute for him after you teach me how to fly..."

"Damnit, they have wanted posters out already?" Reid spat as he looked up at the old cork bulletin board in the center of the village. The drawing of his likeness was pretty pathetic, but they had a photograph of Rosaline up. "Hopefully they cleaned her up well... Hey Ella, you know about girls, right? Well, I was going to get some food and other supplies, but I was also thinking of getting Rosaline something. She's been locked away for a long time, she doesn't really have any material objects other than her flute... I just don't know what to get her. So, I kind of need some help..." His face turned a bit red as he looked the woman in the eyes. It wasn't like he was trying to make a move on Rose, it was just he felt sorry for her. "Of course, I could just leave it, she probably wouldn't care either way anyways..."

"Alright then." Faewyn replied to Rosaline's introduction, her smile widening, "Rose it is, gotcha." as soon as the handshake was finished she once again consulted the partly filled notebook and deftly jotted down 'Rosaline (Rose)' along with a quick description of the girl and a side-note about the flute before speaking up again.

"He probably went to get something." she remarked in response to the younger girl's inquiry, "Being a special forces agent has got to be a really busy job, but I'm sure he'd love to listen when he comes back." there was not even a trace of doubt in the way Faewyn said 'when he comes back', even though she honestly didn't have a clue of what kind person Reid was or where he had gone; to her mind the boy's timely return was intuitively obvious.

"Bet he'll be really surprised when he sees you..." she babbled on happily, the whole scene playing out in her mind's eye, "...especially when he sees you flying too." Yes, the flying...the only reason Faewyn wasn't bombarding the poor girl with questions was because her mind was preoccupied with the one thing she was even more passionate about than gathering information: sharing it. Her speech finished, Faewyn proceeded to examine Rosaline's wings. Cleared from years of dirt and grime they had now returned to their beautiful pure white color, but just as obvious as their potential splendor was the neglect they suffered from. Not having been flapped a single time, the wings looked as tawny as the rest of Rosaline's body, hanging limply from her back. Faewyn shook her head just a little bit, her long ponytail swinging back and forth in unison, not even her optimism could make flight in that condition a likely scenario. She was, however, far from considering giving up, quickly consulting yet another one of her notebooks, flicking through the pages until she reached the heading of 'wingcare'.

"Alright." Faewyn said simply, walking past the girl before turning to face her back and dropping to a crouch, placing the open notebook on the floor next to her, "Rose, I'm going to need you to stand still and tell me when you get a kind of stinging feeling in your back. This may hurt a bit, but it will get better, alright?"

Taking the girl's silence as that of consent, Faewyn slowly traced the area where Rosaline's wings connected with her back with her hands, turning to consult the rough sketch of a winged human's back that had been scribbled on it, stopping now and again to double-check the mess of footnotes and arrows that had been scrawled on top, "Let's see..." she mumbled under her breath, "Lower wing muscles...that should be right about...yeah, this should be it.". Finally settling on the spot, she proceeded with a kind of makeshift massage, trying to make the somewhat rough movements relatively painless. If Rosaline really hadn't used her wings at all, then the only way to get them back into shape was to revive all the neglected back muscles...one at a time, and needless to say: body parts that had been left to their own devices preferred to stay that way. Hopefully Rosaline didn't have a too low threshold for pain.

"Oh, and could someone fetch a chair or stool or something for her?" Faewyn added, casting a brief glance at Reks and Alicel, "This could take a while."

hey sweet, mind if i join? if not thats cool.

Name:Kazu
Age: 29
Gender: male
Nationality: Underneath
Class: Young Pirate
Mahstion Type: Eation

Weapon Class: Kazetikon, a bow that sucks the soul out of anyone that kazu kills, the more souls the sword has the more powerful it becomes. Its made of the bone of fallen soldiers, the string is made out of plants that his kin stole from one of the floating cities. They say when he shoots the bow, you can here the dieing wail of your allies in place of a whistling arrow.

Appearance: Kazu is quite tall, infact, hes taller then everyone he knows. he obviously doesnt have wings, being from the underneath. Hes got scars covering his body due to his long years of servie with the space pirates.

Personality: Kazu seems to have a split personality, while in battle, he goes into a blood lust, sometimes killing other around him. When ever off battle, he always has a tense feeling about him. He doesnt like being ordered around, even by his elders and higher ranks. He usually off battle spends time thinking off new strategies to use against his flying sucsessers.

History: Kazu's family was taken from him when he was age 3, it was a cold night, beta, was attempting an attack on there beloved village. His parents were drafted as most of the army had already fallen and that seemed like the only hope. When they left him, they said "wait for us here kazu...." and so he waited, he waited for days, he refused to eat. But finally, he knew his parents would never be coming back. So he dedicated his life to the total eradication of all winged people!

Ella was positively elated. It was like all her organs suddenly bubbled up to her throat, as she tried her very hardest not to let out a girlish squeal that was something that may have been normal for her if she had been twenty years younger. Instead, she regained her posture, smoothed out her skirt with her hands, and cleared her throat, thinking of what a girl who'd been locked up all her life would want.

"Well," Ella began, "You have to take into account that the girl has been locked up for her entire life, thus, her preferences are probably not the same as a normal girl. But, if I were you, I would get her something every prisoner wants." Ella grinned and glanced back at Reid's wanted poster, staring at it for a few minutes before doubling over in laughter. Such was the amazing skill of Carn! What a hideous portrait! Nobody would guess the young man standing next to her was the beast on the poster. Ahhhh, well.

"You've already given her freedom, haven't you?" Ella asked holding the edge of her wicker basket against her side, "I think, something that has a key to it might be a wonderful present. I've never known anyone like er..." Ella glanced at the wanted poster and the people also looking at it, "Her, so I can only guess. You know her better then any of us though, perhaps you can think of something that might go with her personality. We can stop by the randoms store after you get what you need. Ah, I need to stop by the butchers myself..."

- - - - -

"Right away!" Reks said waving his cane and a bar stool clumsily slid over, propelled by a short gust of wind. Alicel automatically pressed her skirt down when the stool whooshed past her. Her mind was hardly on concealing her underwear though, as she watched the sacrifice with no particular emotion in her eyes. While she stared at the sacrifice, Reks' eyes opened to reveal a pair of sharp blue eyes, which glared intensely at Alicel, who wrenched her gaze away and reluctantly sat down. Reks' eyes closed again and he smiled, "There now. Let's not interrogate the girl tonight, maybe tomorrow morning." He said this as if the other two weren't even in the room, which made Alicel slap her forehead in embarassment.

So much for discretion.

It was true though. Inside, Alicel was being ripped to shreds by the effort of trying not to ask Rosaline if she knew anything about Svartel. She doubted she did, as she'd been locked up, and while she'd been bathing, Alicel had taken the distinct note that she had no tattoo on her left hand, a fact that Reks and Ella had obviously overlooked. She wouldn't know anything more then what she needed to know: She was to die for her religion. In truth, Alicel had pitied the girl at first sight. There was very little about her to be jealous of. But now that she was clean, she was a sight for sore-eyes, that was sure. Pressing the heel of her palm into her cheek, Alicel couldn't help but feel immense jealousy for her wings. They were pure white and feathered- certainly an angel's wings. Not like her own, which were near impossible to see in the dark. And her hair was a rich color, not straw and sandy like Alicel's. Clenching her hand into a fist, Alicel averted her gaze, and tried to think of something else.

Anything other then the princess who sat a mere five feet away from Alicel.

- - - - -

"And did you see him? His face? What he was wearing?" The man asked, and I sat there, silent for a very very long time. When I could see that his patience was about to reach the bare limit, I finally uttered my answer with pure contempt in the single syllable.

"No."

The man seemed extremely frustrated, as he glared at me. But no glare could match my own at the moment. I had a splitting headache, Haeon't and Geon't were extremely interested in ripping off this man's head for annoying me, and I was in a situation I dearly wished I wasn't in. I sighed as he asked more pointless questions.

"Why did you, make no effort to capture the boy when he was right next to you? After all, the other priests were in the air the minute the boy took Rosaline away, why did you not pursue him?"

"Those are my reasons."

The man looked as if he were about to strangle Aertan in frustration. But I said nothing to provoke him further, so he suggested one thing, "To clear your name in suspicion of treason against the Great Tylonstus, we request that you go off and search for Rosaline along with the others."

"I see." I muttered glancing at the knuckles on his wings which were spinning around like tops, trying to get out, "But I might point out that it has been a full day since she escaped. She could very well be in territory in which Carn-born residents are not welcome. Thus, I will not lower myself to their standards, simply to find a sacrifice in which I care not in the least for."

The man clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes, "Fine," he said through clenched teeth, "Just report it to someone else, and we shall handle it from there. You are to leave immediately." He stated in a more professional way, standing up, "It was stated that he flew towards Alta, and so, that is your destination."

Alta was the place that weird girl who had come looking for me lived. I had successfully dodged her by asking the librarian to give her the wrong address as to where I lived. Why I needed to be in the public records as a rumored Svartel was beyond me. So that everyone and anyone could come and gawk at me? Well, I wasn't a show dog, but I would certainly take on the task of hunter if they would stop bugging me about it. And just to spite that rude old fag, I decided that even if I found her, I would state that she as in a different location. In this way, she would be indebted to me so that if I ever needed something from her, I could easily get it. And if I found that capturing her had something in it for me, I would do just that. Not an enemy, not an ally... Aertan smiled a rare smile at the back of the old mans graying scaly wings, his grin waxy and far from happy.

Perfect. It was time to seek out that girl, rather then avoid her.

Standing up, he flinched and fell ack into his seat.

Once this headache was gone, at least.

OOC: Look! Jyukai drew Rose! *is shot by her for posting it* Clicku.
Sorry for another crappy quality post. I'll stop putting them off 'till 1am. XD

"Uh, thanks?" Reid replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Ella hadn't exactly told him enough to decide upon a gift very accurately. Sure, he had been with her for like... eight hours, but she barely talked at all, so it was difficult to decide upon a gift. Then again, how hard could it be to buy for the girl who had nothing? But wait! The flute! Maybe he could get her something for her flute! She always had it with her, and she treated it like someone would their one true love. It was her heart, her soul, her faith, her trust. He looked around the small town, and eventually he caught a look at a music store. "I'll just be a second, Ella. You can probably go to the butcher while I'm gone." And with that, he wandered into the store. From the outside, it didn't look like much. A run down shack with a sign on it, if you will. The interior, however, was neat and organized. It had instruments from alto saxophones, to xylophones, with accessories for each instrument located nearby. He quickly located the flute section, and found TWO perfect gifts. He quickly purchased them, and went out to meet Ella again. "So, are we ready to head back now? I've gotten what I came for..."

Rose winced over and over again as Faewyn massaged - if you could call it that - her wing muscles. Occasionally, she would make eye contact with Alicel, only to sense some form of hostility, and turn away. It was obvious that Rose had forgotten Faewyn's instruction, for she was not informing the masseuse when it began to sting... which was like every three seconds at this point. She didn't care though, she had her flute, and she really wanted to play for everyone. To feel needed, like she was good at something, that's all she wanted. That's all she'd EVER wanted. But she felt drawn to Reid especially for some reason. Sure, he was younger than her, but it was the first contact she'd ever had with a guy that was nice to her. Being socially deprived, perhaps she was naively crushing on him without knowing what crushing actually was. "Say, FaeWYN." Her voice jolting at another burst of pain. "What are boys like?" Her regularly pale face turned somewhat red at the question. She wasn't exactly sure why she was asking. Curiosity? No, curiosity killed the cat. But still, it was pretty much pathetic that she knew nothing of guys. It really made you wonder what she DID know.

Faewyn simply continued with her work when Reks mentioned interrogation, nonchalantly propping Rosaline up on the provided bar stool - that summoning technique sure was handy, she made a mental note of asking about it later. Perceptive of physical events she might have been, but when it came to noticing intangible things - such as Alicel's glaringly obvious envy - she was truly blind as a bat, accepting most things purely at face value. The old man had been nice and spoke in a friendly manner so the girl thought little of the odd choice of words and found herself a bit puzzled by Alicel's discomfort. To Faewyn's mind it was a simple fact that if you wanted to know something you asked; things like subtlety and unspoken rules had never quite stuck with her.

"Boys?" the girl echoed rather loudly at Rosaline's question, effectively ensuring that anyone in the vicinity who might have missed the question the first time around didn't do so now. The younger girl might not have known it, but she had gone and opened the proverbial Pandora's box; she had asked Faewyn a question and there was no taking it back now. "Well, there are many kinds." she begun enthusiastically, slowly working her way up the right one of the sizable wings. This called for far more precision than the parts at the back, since even a single injured bone or a few lost feathers from the wrong places were all it took to create a serious accident, and since her own were insect wings - currently innocently pressed against her back - Faewyn didn't have much experience in this field.

"I'm really going to need a heads up when it stings, you know." she added as an aside, "Now boys, well...they tend to have this strange thing for never showing when they're hurt. It's called manliness, I think; they do it because otherwise the other boys will make fun of them, but sometimes they make fun of each other anyway and don't mind it." the tone of Faewyn's voice betrayed slight puzzlement over this information. Truth to be told, she had just thought of boys as people, and the ones her age usually thought of her more as a harmless loony than a representative of the fairer sex, so while she had a number of personal histories she had very little in the way of knowledge about boys in general, "And...well, sometimes they act really weird. Like this one time when I was mending this one guy's wings after an accident; he just went really red and-" she paused, tilting her head thoughtfully, "-well, it was sort of like you right now. Maybe it's a side-effect?" on this note, she quickly scribbled a small parenthesis about it on the notebook before resuming the treatment, apparently satisfied with the right wing as she proceeded to repeat the procedure with the left, "Anyway, boys are usually really shy about asking for help or advice from girls too; it's part of the manliness thing. They also talk different depending on whether there are girls around or not, it's all very complicated. Some of them are really nice and hold up the door and stuff while others just sort of grunt and try to look the other way, some of them make really strange jokes, and some call you really pretty things and offer you things but those are called...umm..." she paused for a moment, searching for the word, "Oh yeah, 'dirty no-good letches', that's the word; apparently they're like oil slicks or something, so you should avoid them because...well, you might slip and hurt yourself, I guess. I haven't met any yet, though. But yeah, that's basically what boys are like." Faewyn nodded in confirmation of her own statement, "So, anything else you wanted to know?" she asked enthusiastically. It wasn't often when people bothered to ask for her opinions - in fact, they tended politely ask her not to give them - and she didn't want the thrilling feeling of getting to explain something to end just yet.

OOC: *facepan* ... *dies of embarassment*

IC: Alicel slapped her hand over her mouth, trying to suppress an overwhelming amount of giggles as Reks nodded, "That sounds like an accurate description. But you failed to mention that if a boy likes a girl there are two major ways he can express it. He can be extremely kind, or he can be extremely cold, I personally believe that that," Reks glanced at Rosaline, "Was the main question at hand."

Alicel let out a short burst of laughter before covering her mouth with her hand again, turning the brightest shade of red and letting her laugh trail off nervously before quickly excusing herself. What a way to let down the barrier. But seriously, that had to have been the funniest description ever. It was accurate, indeed, but describing the enigma of boys all in one go was just funny. Especially the part with Faewyn as the wing-fixer. Alicel may not have ever found herself a boyfriend, as Ella always said, "You have to love yourself before you can love someone else," (which wasn't usually the case,) but Alicel had hung around her friends enough to know every single basic to flirting with a guy. At least, a typical, stupid, bumbling, retarded guy.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Alicel took a deep breath and patted her cheeks. Laughing was such an ugly thing, and she'd let herself do it in front of not one, but two strangers. Sighing, she sat down on the front step and stared down the walkway towards town. Tapping her chin, Alicel watched the lights burn bright as the customers finished up their night shopping for candles and lamp oil. Such an old and sleepy town.

- -

"Noooo problem!" Ella said cheerfully, convinced that she'd helped him choose to the fullest, "I'll only be a minute!"

Turning about to head towards the butcher shop she sweatdropped. Oh that was right. The butcher shop was open at night.

"Silly me," Ella said, turning around on the spot to face the path that led to the Florinen residence. After a few minutes, Reid returned, finished with his shopping and Ella clapped her hands together.

"Wonderful! The butcher's was closed, but that's quite alright. Let's head back, shall we? And, excuse me for asking, but, you have a mark...? Right here?" Ella poked her index finger into her forehead, just above the middle of her brow as she started to walk uphill towards their home.

- -

'Are you really going to go after that girl?' Haeon't asked, as Aertan pulled on a black pinstriped vest, the wings detatching and re-attatching onto his vest, 'After all, it's not like you had anything to do with letting her escape. They just think you're weird because you didn't panic-'

'AHHH GREAT TYLONSTUS, YOUR SACRIFICE JUST GOT KIDNAPPED! Mercy me!' Geon't interuppted sarcastically as he waved himself around in the air, pretending to panic.

"It'll be a chance to see the rest of the world, won't it?"

'Mmm, yes,' Haeon't said moving his long blackened arm down in front of Aertan, 'But shouldn't you get this mark checked out first?' His long sharp claws carefully peeled away Aertan's bangs, making sure not to cut his own host. However, Aertan simply stared at the mark with intense curiousity before muttering something to himself, shrugging it off. Pulling his black pants over his boots and rolling back the sleeves of his white dress shirt, Aertan flicked one, two, three, four coins into both Haeon't and Geon't's hands, keeping four for himself.

"Twelve coins should be enough for two nights stay in an inn." Aertan mused to himself, "If I don't find her in two days, I'm calling this search off."

Geon't let out a cackle of laughter which echoed throughout Aertan's head, 'So much for saving the Princess!'

"If I find her," Aertan said plainly, trying to steady himself as his ears rang and his head rattled, "That's technically not saving her."

'Thought you were going to make her in your debt?' Geon't asked, calming down for a split second.

"Depends on who she's with. You honestly believe that people in Alta want to send back a sacrifice? Think for a minute with your non-existant brain Geon't," Aertan pushed open the door to the church and took off, beating his wings and perching himself next to the church bell, facing Alta, "Those people are conquered people. Conquered people, don't usually admire their conquerer's."

Geon't was lifting and bending his fingers as he tried to figure out what Aertan had meant between all the 'conquer's, but only managed to let out a yell of surprise when he found himself pluging towards the ground and then back up into the air, and then back to the ground, the cycle never ending, but at the split moment he was eye-level with Aertan, he shrieked in Aertan's mind, 'I HATE IT WHEN YOU FLY!!!'

OOC: Hmm? I dunno' about the others but I wouldn't die of embarrassment if I could draw wings like that. Or if I could draw at all, for that matter. :3 Anyways...IC is kind of short since I have no Rosaline material to go on, but meh...

IC:

"Really?" Faewyn's eyes widened at Reks' addition, the girl quickly finishing up with the current muscle and proceeding to write down the newly obtained tidbits of information. Just then, Alicel excused herself - accompanied by a burst of laughter. Faewyn followed her departure with an expression of polite puzzlement, not grasping whatever Alicel had found so hilariously funny but not wanting to claim that it wasn't funny - after all, this certainly wasn't the first time someone had found something amusing in her behavior or made a joke that went completely past her. An average person might have been offended by such a gesture, but Faewyn took it in her usual placid manner. Nothing wrong with making people happy, right? The other girl was soon out of sight, however, and so Faewyn turned her attention to the more crucial matter at hand, casting a curious glance at Reks.

"How'd you tell whether they like you or not, though?" she inquired, eventually turning back to her work even though her questions continued, "I mean, can't they act really nice or cold to you without liking you? Almost done, by the way." she added to Rosaline, working her way up the right-hand wing. Just a few more muscles and this part would be over, but whether it would work or not remained to be seen.

OOC: Sorry for the delay. Lost my internet temporarily, but I'm back! Okay, I'm kind of hoping to get things rolling soon, hopefully tomorrow, so any loose ends need to be wrapped up. (i.e. Rose's flying lessons. You can just write a little bit about them if you want, AE.)

IC: Reid automatically dismissed the supposed mark on his forehead as a result of plunging one thousand feet towards the Earth, failing to remember the similar one on Rosaline's forehead, or Faewyn's, or Alicel's. So, apparently little details weren't his specialty, he had other things on his mind, after all. For example, why wasn't the town absolutely crowded with Carn search parties? It wasn't everyday a sacrifice that had been harbored for sixteen years was kidnapped, you'd think they'd do a bit more than throw up a few wanted posters. Why did they still want her anyways? The sacrifice had to be made at midnight on her sixteenth birthday. That time had passed, it wouldn't do them any good to sacrifice her. Unless, there was some alternate reason they needed her disposed of. Reid decided not to dwell on it any further, and they soon arrived at the quaint little house on the hill. Before going in, Reid stuck the bag he had at his side into his deep coat pocket. The gift could wait until later. After all, there was no rush, right? Right?

As he walked in, he found an unknown girl receiving a wing massage from Faewyn. She had stunning, richly coloured navy blue hair, and her wings were of the purest white. She wore a white shirt and a navy blue skirt... which didn't really seem appropriate for flying, but whatever. Reid stood there for a moment, dumbstruck by the girl's calm yet beautiful appearance, before it finally clicked. That was Rosaline? The pile of dirt that had been with him for the past little while? That was her? It was amazing what someone's first bath in sixteen years could do along with a new outfit. Reid watched a bit longer, noting that she was in pain. Well, not using your wings for that long would probably bring upon some pain with a simple massage, but she'd have to bear with it for now. After all, she may actually have to use those soon, since Reid had a suspicion something was not right. Reid changed his mind. It was technically still her birthday, and it would be the best day to give her the presents. After all, he had an excuse. Since he was approaching from behind, Reid thought it best not to startle the two, so he said something. "So... you look, uh, good, Rosaline." He was slightly red, but that could always be dismissed as a fever or something. "So... Happy Birthday!"

Rosaline didn't reply. Perhaps it was because she didn't think of birthdays as a happy thing, or maybe she just didn't understand the meaning behind a birthday. He quickly forked over the bag, before muttering something about going to bed, while in reality he was going to mope about it. She examined the bag, and eventually pulled out the contents. She found a case for carrying her flute in, a small black tube made of felt, that she could easily throw over her shoulder, and a necklace. The necklace had a music note on it, carved out of garnet, her birthstone. It was simple, on a silver chain necklace. She was, at this point, very confused. "Uh... why did he give me this and run off? Is he what you call a 'dirty no-good lecher"?" She was obviously confused by Faewyn's explanation.

OOC: Mmmmkay...first wave of crits sorted out, I hope. Time to post. And speaking of posting...might certain people be persuaded to take a gander at Alarayne? I seem to notice a new post or two over there that don't really leave much room for 'I have nothing to say'. Just, you know, in case you're getting tired of waiting for my input.

As for the flying lessons...well, that's up to you. If you're really in a hurry to move on to a grand plot advancement we could always postpone them and have Rosaline learn that skill later on, maybe with an escape through flight (In which someone else would most likely carry her) to grant a first experience or something. As I said: it's up to you. :3

IC:

Faewyn couldn't prevent the appearance of a small, knowing smile on her face as Reid stepped in and addressed Rosaline - and, incidentally, completely ignored everyone else - blushing much in the same way as the princess had just a few minutes ago. Was this part of what Reks had described? The kind of thing that a boy could do when he liked a girl? Or was this one of those people who were like oil slicks? Faewyn was honestly a bit confused, but then again...Reid hadn't exactly looked oily or anything, and...well, just watching the scene had given the girl this strange bubbly feeling and an impulsive need to go 'aww'. She didn't know why she had felt this way, but Faewyn's policy had always been 'it's good if it feels good'.

"Well..." the girl replied to Rosaline's question, finishing off the right wing, "I'm not sure if you can tell straight away, but I do know that what you're supposed to say in cases like this is 'thank you'. Anyway, I'm done now." she got up from her crouching position, examining her handiwork as she stretched her limbs a bit. Faewyn had been so absorbed in her work that she hadn't even noticed how it got dark outside, "There are some exercises you can do to keep your wings in shape, but first..." her eyes glinted, "Rose, would you like to try using them?"

OoC// Hmm, this post might move kind of fast, and might be kind of crap for quality. Be warned. But it's a post that's essential to be read.

IC//

Alicel had trailed after the pair who had just gotten home, deciding that it was starting to get too chilly to sit on the front step once they'd arrived. Slipping past Ella, Alicel retreated into her room for a moment, a little peace and quiet. It seemed that home had been too hectic for her tastes lately, and the pounding silence in her bedroom was nice. Save for the voices that were floating in from the kitchen through the small crack underneath her door. Apparently Reid had just given Rosaline a birthday gift. That was right, the sacrifice was supposed to occur on her 16th birthday, according to the book she'd read in Carn. Sitting down on her bed and staring at the vanity across from her, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair- with all intentions of brushing it again. But she paused, staring for a moment or two. In the silence, she heard someone knock on the front door and Ella call that she would get it.

What is that? Alicel thought, 'That... that blue dot? That horrible blemish? That ugly thing on my forehead?!

Alicel let out a high pitched girly shriek, but she wasn't the only one. Ella let out an equal shriek of terror, though her's was a little more justified then Alicel's.

"Move." Alicel heard a smooth voice say from the front door, and pushing aside all thoughts of the ugly mark on her forehead, patting her bangs down over her forehead to keep it hidden from sight, she rushed out of her bedroom to see a strange man standing in the door, his arms folded and two hideous purple arms reaching for Ella, just barely being held back by an invisible force. Ella, the only Florinen who was not in posession of a mastion, stood stock still, staring at the razor sharp claws that looked so eager to rip her face off.

"I'm looking for a girl named 'Alice' or something along those lines." He said, staring straight at Alicel, who had just rushed into the hall.

The girl in question halted in her approach and the man gave a smile which hardly warmed his sharp features, the strand of hair between his eyes looking as if it had been dyed red with blood.

"But I guess I found her." The two purple arms shot out at her, extending to show a complete arm, rather then only from the flexor up, the man stepping into the house to accomodate the distance between himself and Alicel. But just as they were going to grasp themselves around Alicel's shoulder's, the arms retreated as quickly as they'd shot out, wrapping themselves around the man who's great wings deflected a condensed tornado back at Reks, who quickly dispersed the attack.

"Who are you?" The man said, raising an eyebrow, though not sounding particularly interested in the answer the man might produce. From behind one of the wings, the purple hand shot out again, swerving around and dodging the bursts of wind that Reks was directing at it. Alicel held her hand out to the kitchen, but in her frenzy of panic as the disgusting and slimy looking hand stretched faster and faster toward her, no water came to her aid. Ella scrambled away and stumbled into the kitchen, looking as panicked as someone who was utterly defenseless would feel.

"Faewyn!" Her words tumbled out much faster then she was normally able to speak, "It's too late for lessons, get Rosaline out of here! I think there's only one, but be careful, the pumpkin patch in the back, it's under the cover of the mountain ridges!"

Without another word, she hurried into the laundry room which was connected to the end of the hallway, and the kitchen. It was the farthest path around the man who had arms for wings.

"Let go of me you slimy... THING!" Alicel was screeching as Geon't gripped her even tighter at the insult. Reks had stopped throwing tornado's at the hand, for fear of hitting Alicel as well, who was pounding at the fingers around her neck.

"Thanks for the delivery." Aertan smiled and Haeon't waved farewell to Reks, who moved to pursue him, but a great blaze of fire erupted at the doorway the minute Aertan stepped out of the way, keeping Reks, who controlled wind, at bay. Had Aertan known that the sacrifice was actually inside the building he'd just set fire to, he might've caused more damage. But as it was, the payment of the visit was only a burnt doorway and Alicel herself.

"You disgusting thing! I'll come with you-" Alicel gasped as Aertan headed back for the village, "Just don't touch me!"

"I suggest you stop insulting Geon't, or his grip'll get tighter." Aertan smiled, and Alicel glared at him as his words held true, "Endure it. He's just had a bath after all, so though he might not look it, he's quite clean."

The hand quickly let go of Alicel and turned around, threatening to choke Aertan as well. But before Alicel could scamper away, the other hand already had her from around the waist, dragging her along in the air as Aertan calmly walked back.

"Let go of me! Let go of me you ugly disgusting- MRRNMF!!" Alicel shrieked into the night, before the other hand slapped itself around her mouth.

"He says to shut up." Aertan stated flatly.

Looking utterly repulsed, Alicel condemned herself to silence, in hopes that the hand might remove it's unsanitary self from her face.

OoC// In case that was confusing, Aertan's got Alicel to figure out where the sacrifice is, and Faewyn can be Reid and Rosaline's guide through Alta or whatever, and you guys go escape while I do my thing over here. How's that sound? Peachy? Not-Peachy?

"Seriously, what am I doing? Snap out of it!" Reid scolded himself as he splashed water on his face in the washroom in the room he was staying in. It was small, yet quaint, and easily reminded of Reid of home, much to his displeasure. The past was something better off forgotten, in his opinion a least. Why remember what you don't need to push forward? "I don't need any sort of emotional attachment to anyone. Once I've completed my mission, I won't see any of these people again, and that includes Rosaline! I'm an idiot, a poor soldier indeed." He figured that at the rate things were going, they weren't going to meet their rendezvous - nothing had gone without a hitch that day, so why would that be any different. If something was to go wrong, they'd have to head to Azern, a desert town on the Underneath, just below Alta. Carn soldiers wouldn't last five minutes down there, since the constant winds and blowing sand make it nearly impossible to fly properly. Of course, and Wionus user could deal with the winds in an instant, but Carn was seriously lacking in Wionus users, and they'd never bring themselves to hire one of the many Underneath inhabitants that use it.

Meanwhile, Rosaline had been occupied by the feelings she recieved when she moved her wings. She had honestly never flapped her wings her entire life, and it felt so relieving. However, the odd feather came loose and fell to the floor, but that too was to be expected. Eventually, there was a knock on the door, and Ella left to see to it. Even this was a new experience to Rosaline. You don't get up to answer the door in a dark, dirty cell, you sit and wait for food to be thrown underneath the door so you can survive for another day. Rose was enjoying pure bliss... until she heard Ella shriek at the front door...

Reid heard the commotion as well, and quickly picked up the board / bow combo off of the ground beside him and threw it overtop his back, pulling the bow off and knocking an arrow. Now, he had to prioritize. He could either get Rose out of there, or he could go and save Ella from whatever it was that was attacking her. But he knew, everything made sense now. The lack of Carn soldiers, it meant that Carn was sending the best trackers they had out on the case. Most likely, they were here looking for resources, or perhaps a guide. Either way, if they found Rose here, it would be game over. Stealthily, he peered around the corner into the hall, arrow at the ready. In the case that this was some sort of attack, he couldn't just run around like an idiot. It would mean certain death. The commotion was obviously coming from the staircase, so heading down the stairs was not an intelligent idea. Instead, he unlatched the window at the end of the hallway, and made his way climbing down some vines on the outer wall of the house. By the time he snuck in through the back door, they were gone. But, so was Alicel. Rose automatically returned to Reid's side when he came in sight, and the two looked over the damages, and those who remained. "...Rose, we're going. Faewyn, I trust you can guide us to the edge of Alta? We can't stay here, we're going to Azern." It was cold, but was he supposed to do? Alicel would be safer if he didn't get involved.