Family Reunion (Liza, Jula and Aero)

Alec nodded. "to be frank, I could use a bed without fearing for my life," He said. "so, I will accept your hospitality. Thank you kindly, Miss Geronimo." He was oddly quiet when Geronimo mentioned his son, not wanting to either agree or disagree. It was difficult to determine what Dmitri was exactly to him. Without a doubt, he was Dmitri's creator, so, in a sense, her father, but... not really. He was quiet for the rest of the trip.

As a guest, he just let himself be shuffled around wherever people put him. He wasn't at all fussy, and was just glad to be out of that place with some real protection. His mind was of course on finding Dmitri, so for a time, he sat, with his thoughts elsewhere.

Well, Geronimo was quite lovely in a dress. He decided not to say so, though, as he didn't want it to be misconstrued as flirting, since her mother apparently wanted to get her hitched or something. but, if he really thought about it, she did seem more suited to her traveling clothes. He stood as Silence entered. If he had a hat, he'd take it off, but he didn't, so he just stood and set his spear-pole aside. "Madam," He said, giving her a gracious bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Your friend Geronimo has raved about you," He said pleasantly. "I'm very fortunate to be at the right place, at the right time, to see two friends be reunited with one another. It really is a lovely thing. You haven't had a stressful journey I hope, have you?" Alec asked, as if he were the host around here. He offered Silence his chair like a real gentleman.

Silence immediately blushed and tried to hide her face. "You don't have to give up your seat for me. . .I-It's alright." She took a seat beside him and made her best attempt at a smile. "I travel all around the island with a circus, it's what we do." Shortly after her statement Ger hugged her tightly and took a seat next to Alec. "If you'd like a few minutes alone with her I'll be happy to oblige." she offered with a teasing smile. In the time it took waiting for an answer, she fidgeted with her skirt so much that she decided once she GOT her answer, she was going to change because that dress was a NIGHTMARE!

Her mother had decided that it was time to bring in some kind of refreshments, thus she brought in fresh fruit juice and some cheese on a silver plate. "If there's anything in particular that you'd like, just let me know and I'll speak to the cook." Ger had lots of her mother's personality and charm, she also shared her same sea foam green/aquamarine eyes; what she lacked was her mother's feminine physique. She got her figure from her father, coupled with his wild red hair and natural fighting talent. "My home is your home, Alec. Golam also has a low crime rate, so it's rather nice when you want out of the hustle and bustle of nearby Yarrowitz."

Alec laughed. "No, of course not, Thank you, I'm just a guest and a stranger - I should be offering the both of you some time alone to catch up, not the other way around." He sat back as they hugged each other, kind of sighing happily.

He tensed up when the cups came out, since he'd lately learn to not trust drinks that were served to him. He forced himself to ignore the fear of being drugged or poisoned, reminding himself that not all people were evil. He accepted a cup with a gracious nod and began drinking it.

Juice was so delicious. He had missed it to much. "This juice is delicious, actually, please just keep it coming," he requested. "I like tea too, but Zold brewed a very bitter ginger tea... it was well brewed enough, but not my favorite."

While enjoying his first cup, he turned to Silence conversationally. "A circus! Really. You must have great talents... only the best people can get into the circus. I remember going to the circus as a kid," He said, kind of nostalgically. "I wonder if it's the same one...? Oh, what do you do in the circus?" He asked.

Silence couldn't resist a laugh. "It likely isn't the same one, since I've been in this one since it started about 5 years ago. I'm a firebreather and I do simple card tricks. It's not always the most lucrative job, but I like it, and the circus is a wonderful surrogate family. This is just a shot in the dark, but are you the brave soul who's decided to marry my gender-insecure adopted sister? You two seem friendly enough." To be truly honest it would've made her so happy if Ger would finally settle down enough to get married, or rather if there was a man on the planet who could handle her.

From Silence's recollection Geronimo was always rough around the edges, though still refined like any aristocrat's child should be. Her overall appearance hadn't changed much, which to a point was a surprise considering her mother was the picture of feminine in terms of appearance. Though she of all people knew how deceiving looks could be, seeing as she knew that Ger's mother could decapitate a moving target at 150 feet given motive and opportunity. Her less than normal childhood companion broke every rule in the book, if there was ever a list of stereotypical rules to break. After a moment of seriously studying Alec her eyes lit up. "Wait a minute, have I seen you before? You look really familiar. . .It wasn't in Caspan, wasn't at the Azure Caves. . .Kaionar! I could swear I saw you in Kaionar while we were there not a few weeks ago!" She could only hope she wasn't wrong, or else Ger would burst out laughing. She could see it all over her friend's face.

Alec laughed himself, and grinned at Geronimo. "I can see what you mean about everybody wanting to see you married off," He said with a good nature. Back to Silence, "No, no, miss Geronimo and I just met. Besides, I doubt she'd want to marry an old fart - and a coward, to boot - like me. How old do you think I am?" He asked, sounding amused. "I'm sure she'd much rather settle down with someone her age." He glanced at Geronimo and thought for a few minutes. "Though, I guess that would be rude of me to assume your preferred type." He wiggled his eyebrow at her in a mockingly hopeful manner, before laughing again. "I'm about... let's see, almost forty now." He smiled brightly. "Now, I know I've got plenty of good things going for me - a good catch for any woman my age. But I wouldn't want to stifle any young woman's dream of marrying a young, dashing swashbuckler. I'm afraid I'm neither young OR a swashbuckler, however dashing I may be." He put on fake airs, before laughing them off.

"But," he said with a genuine smile. "I am indebted to Geronimo. I'd say that it's embarrassed to have to be rescued by anybody, but the truth of the matter is, the more embarrassing part was that I got myself into my situation in the first place. We all make mistakes, I suppose. Mine were just particularly costly."

He leaned back and nodded in response to Silence. "Yes indeed, I've been holed up in Kaionar for the past ... oh... year and a half I think, as a personal engineer to Zold Grimhart. Or D'Laube. I mingled about there long enough, so that would explain that. I wish I had known you were in town, the Circus has always been a treat, even as an adult. It's healthy to stay young at heart, I say, as long as you can remain responsible. But to be honest, I wouldn't have enjoyed it without my girl Dmitri, so I might not have gone regardless."

Silence waved off his age. "Pssh! If you survived a trip from Kaionar to Golam with her that's good enough! Thankfully Geronimo thinks I'm too young to get married, even though I just turned 20 and to most people that's on the verge of old as it is." Ger had vanished moments before to go change into something else that wasn't pink or annoying to wear, and came back in a white flowing short sleeved knee-length tunic with a pair of complimentary rusty colored pants. She dawdled about upstairs long enough to give Silence a chance to get acquainted with Alec.

"Well for someone twice my age I certainly wouldn't need think twice about pairing you up with her. You obviously get along well otherwise you wouldn't have accompanied her up here. The only trouble with her is that she's not like any other woman I've ever met. She's built very much like a man with the strength and determination to match, and I guess men prefer their women to be weaker than they are. Hence why she's still single. I'd be very happy if she found someone to settle down with. By no means will I ever expect her to be a mother, but any man worth his salt and his gold should be so lucky to have her." NOW she was instigating things that she figured probably wouldn't work, but darn it she was going to play cupid whether it worked or not!

"Well," Alec said, "That's something you'll have to take up with her. Men my age get bad reputations if we go sniffing around for women that much younger than us, you see. Besides that... well, there's something to be said for a simple, quiet home life. I think we have different goals, her and I. There's... well. I enjoy being a father very much, and I expect to be one for a very long time. Once I find Dmitri again, that is. But... you are right." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Geronimo certainly isn't like any other woman I ever met. I'm sure she and Dmitri would get along very well, though. Dmitri's trying to break a similar stereotype, as well, and wishes she had been born a lad... Her name is Evelyn, really, but she gets mad when I call her that." He chuckled a bit.

However, after that short chuckle, he just looked awfully sad.

He continued a little more quietly. "Regardless, she needs a father and a mother both. It's hard for any kid to be without one or the other, let alone without both, even if I'm not really her father. Not in the strictest sense. She doesn't have anybody else. And... I feel so bad that I can't give her a mother, too," he said. "But what can a person do? I want to find a person who wants to be a mother. There's nothing I enjoy more than having a family, so if I re-marry, they would have to want that too. I won't be picky on many other parts, to be honest. I need to find a woman who enjoys being a mother."

"Well, honestly no man's had the spine to stick around long enough to really learn about her. Ger's a really sweet girl underneath all her toughness." She wanted to say more, but the more she thought about it the angrier she got. Geronimo was an amazing woman, no man was worthy of her! It occurred to her that Ger wouldn't be happy if she had to be a typical woman. "If that's all you're really wanting, then on second thought it'd be better if you didn't marry her. She's a good mother considering Orran, but she's also a warrior. She's not a domestic housewife in any sense. . ." Well there went that idea. That just shortened her fuse even more, and that was never good.

It was that moment that Geronimo decided to return and sit next to Silence. "While I was away I actually thought about finding someone for this little firebug to marry, but after remembering her temper I rethought that idea. She's a little too wild spirited to settle down, at least right now." Ger was a little shocked when Silence excused herself claiming that Lady Bloodmace needed her for a dress fitting. "Wonder what's gotten into her? Hope she wasn't too much of a hassle for you." she apologized. "She's very forward and blunt about things. What was she talking about while I was changing anyway?"

Alec chuckled at Geronimo. "Well, if you MUST know... in point of fact, we were chatting about you! Specifically, your lovely friend Silence was trying to gauge me as a potential husband. However, I came up not being worthy," he said lightly, very cheerful about it. "But she cares about you, and she wants you to be happy. That's what you should gather from this, if nothing else."

He tipped his head. "But, in all seriousness miss Geronimo, I am glad to be travelling with you, because I'm happy to have some company and protection. But, I hope I'm not misleading you... I don't have any romantic intention towards you. I didn't suppose you had any towards me, but my recent conversation with Silence made me want to make myself slightly more clear, so nothing could be misconstrued. You seem like a lovely woman, Geronimo, but you seem like quite an adventurer, and I would never want to rob you of the life you wish to live. There is, perhaps, someone out there for both of us, but I don't think we were meant for each other. Besides that, I'm considerably older than you... I'm sure you'd prefer someone your own age. Perhaps more spry, and a little more handsome." He gave her an apologetic smile.

She gave a light snort and smiled. "If you were my age there wouldn't be any questions on the matter. Of course if you were my age you'd likely be just as terrified of me as most of the young men around here as well. Silence would like to think that I'll find someone eventually, but I doubt it. I'm not even built right as far as being a woman goes. That's reason number one as to why I'm single, two is that I'm a dangerous warrior, and three I suppose is that I've nine overly-protective brothers." She sat down beside him and kissed his cheek much like she'd do for one of her brothers and grinned at him for all it was worth.

"Then again if you were my age I'd likely be setting you up with Silence. She's wild and free-spirited but without the insatiable wanderlust that I seem to have. She's also not a ginger amazon with a dragon. She'll never admit it but she's good marriage material." A moment later her mother walked over to the top of the stairs. "I'd like an opinion or two on this dress please! Ger, Alec, come up here if you will?" she called. Ger in turn stood from her seat and looked to Alec. "Shall we go see the masterpiece, then?"

He laughed. "You're probably right... I like to think of myself as very open minded now, but back then, things that weren't quite in the norm were scary enough as there were, without them also being a woman who could probably beat my ... butt." The pause was in part because he had been about to say "ass" but thought better of it. "But on the other hand, back then, I wasn't as committed to settling down. I always knew I wanted to, of course, but I was in no great hurry to get there, since the world is so full of wonderful things to learn. At the time, I thought it was either one or the other - learning and discovering, or having a family, I know better now, though. As for the brothers... well, having been a part of a small family, always wondered what it would be like to be a part of a large one, with all manner of relatives. I can navigate my way around sporting games well enough, I'm sure I would have fit in just fine eventually.

"As for Silence... well, when I was a younger man, I was also a good deal shyer of a man. Silence definitely seems like the type of woman who a man could have a lot of good fun with. Of course, I've only known her for all of about... oh... ten seconds, and really, the possibilities are neither here nor there. But, when I was younger, I was a different man. Not terrible, mind you, just slightly more selfish, as we all are when we're young. Now that I'm older... well, I'm simply a better person. More experiences always make people more well-rounded. I'm sure you'll notice this too. Yes, you're an adult now, and you may think these are your funnest years, but they don't have to get more boring or more stiff as you grow older. Growing older is actually quite fun, when you do it right. But, the point that I'm trying to make is this: My age limits me in some areas, and opens up new doors in others. I would absolutely love to have the knowledge I have now and be a younger man, but that's never the way it works, is it?" He smiled. "So we all must make do with what we have. It's silly to wish for anything but what fate has dealt to us. While I would love to fantasize about your friend, realistically, it would do neither of us justice to the other. She should find someone her age... someone who she can grow up with, someone who she can share those vital experiences with. It's more fun that way. Besides, how old are you two? Early twenties? I'm old enough to be both of your fathers, so I couldn't hitch up with anybody your age without thinking of myself as a perverted old man. I'd be more likely to take care of anybody your age as a daughter, than a lover. That simply wouldn't be a fulfilling relationship for anybody. Unless you're looking to fill that specific void in your heart."

He liked to talk. He did. And he had spent far too much time with Zold, not talking to many people at all except saying "Yessir" and "right away" and "Of course" etc. Being a yes-man was hellishly drab. It was nice to finally express himself again.

"But," he said finally, "I'm talking to much. Got a little carried away." He stood and finished off his juice, making a satisfied sound with the last gulp. "I hope I haven't bored you. Yes, let's go take a look at how she's looking, then." He glanced at her. "I think it's rather funny that both of you are trying to set the other up in a relationship, just minutes after having not seen each other for years. You know what that means, right?... It means that years and years of being apart has not made your feelings towards one another any weaker. You should definitely value that connection you have with her."

"Between you and me. . .If I were properly of the male gender I'd be planning a proposal. I honestly can't see her that way, but she never really did have a good father figure. She was always scared of hers as a child and he was never kind to her. She'd likely have more happy memories if she had a father like you." Upon reaching the "dressing room" on the second floor she paused. "I don't think anyone deserves to be disowned as a child, but she's seen it first hand. For her to have a father figure like you would be a blessing." She opened the door and broke into the biggest smile she could have.

Silence was standing on a small stool in an orange, bell sleeved dress that just reached the floor with her shoulders bare, and she looked like the happiest girl alive. "Well...? How does it look?" She twirled once and faced them with that smile still on her face. Ger put her hands on her hips, shook her head, and simply laughed. "I always knew you'd get your orange dress one day! Seems my mother made that dream a reality. Must say that you look stunning in orange!" Ah her little roaming firebug loved color, and it was a Godsend.

"Any man would be a fool not to," Alec said lightly. "She probably gets them all the time, I imagine, but is likely too wise to say 'yes' to just anybody."

He paused as Ger talked about Silences father, and his face fell. "You're right... nobody deserves that. She seems fairly healthy for the cards dealt to her in that case. I'm glad she was able to sort things out in her heart... But... well..." his face fell. "It still must be hard on her then. But if she needs somebody to take care of her, I like fancying that I'm an excellent care-giver. I hope that is true, but lately I've been doubting that, having spent so much time away from Dmitri, and I need to regain my fortune from Zold before I have the resources to be an earnest nurturer. That's awfully sad, though... It's hard to grow up right with that kind of upbringing. Any upbringing without a parent. Without both parents is even worse."

Alec entered after Geronimo, and looked thoughtful for a few moments as he examined her. She did seem very cheerful for someone without a father, or with a bad father, but everybody wore masks. He tipped his head. "Hmmm... You know, I'm not usually the biggest fan of orange, but on you... you certainly make that dress shine, Miss Geronimo. Bravo, you look stunning." He grinned again. "With you two ladies doing so much fancy dressing up, I feel a bit bad that I don't have anice gentleman's suit to try on," he teased. "I kind of feel a bit left out!"

"So, Geronimo," Alec asked, "If it's not such a personal question.... if you're not wearing a dress to woo yourself a husband, then what is it that you, personally, dress up for?"

"I usually dress up for family events, we supply generous amounts of money to help with festivals and parties throughout the year. Most of the upper class automatically address me as a woman because they know my father has a daughter. Actually, if mother wouldn't mind. . .We might be able to pull a suit off in a day." When he mentioned his money Silence raised her brow. "Speaking as a person who started over at thirteen with nothing but the clothes on her back and bloody bandages, why not amass a new fortune and forget about what you left behind for now? I know it's probably not your preferred option, but doesn't it sound so much better than wasting time with someone you apparently loathe?"

Ah, the girl had a point, and it was a point well made! "Oh if half the people in this world had a brain like yours my lovely." Ger lamented. "Alec I give you my word that I will do my best to help you get back what's yours by right, and if it falls through then I will simply aid you in building up the money again." she explained with a determined look. "Now, I do believe there's an elite-class social event going on in Yarrowitz tonight, so if we can't have your suit done, then you will borrow from one of my younger brothers. Either way I would be delighted if you would accompany Silence as her escort for the evening. I need her to go with someone I trust, and all of my brothers that still live here are her age or younger, so you are the obvious choice."

Alec nodded. "You're right - but that was a lifetime's worth of work, and my life is now more than half over, I'm sure. It would be much more difficult to start from the ground up at my age, but I'd be happy to just have a comfortable home at this point, rather than a rich one. I've already learned the lesson of money being not nearly so important as family. I just want to be able to provide for Dmitri again," He said. "Not too fancy, and I'm sure Dmitri wouldn't care either, sweet and practical girl that she is. You'd both probably get along well with her."

Alec laughed and raised his hands. "I was just kidding about the suit. Honestly, I don't need one. I'm not so snub as to be thankless for the clothes that I'm wearing. It'd be wrong to make your - mother? - do even more sewing on such short notice. Or Seamstresses. Either way, I know how pricy fine suits are, and I don't need to be any more of a burden to you than I'm going to be while we travel together. You're already doing me a great favor, I'm not going to ask you for your finances or help in any other fashion. It wouldn't be right, as I have nothing to offer to you in return."

Alec raised his eyebrows at the idea of an elite social event, and seemed to get a little more shy. "Well... are you sure I should be the one to go? I'm not exactly elite anymore, and even when I was... Socials were never really my thing. I'd be happy to escort Silence if she needs an escort, but I certainly didn't make my initial fortune from networking. I guess I can go, it might just be a bit fancy-hat for me, I wouldn't want to embarrass you." Sheepish smile.

Ger smirked and raised her eyebrow. "Silence? I do believe I have found your escort, would you please help me dress him?" Silence smiled and patted Alec's shoulder. "She has two reasons: one is because you apparently deserve it, and two we want you to pass muster. Heaven forbid someone think you're part of the hired help." She was genuinely happy about this whole thing! "I'm happy to have you escort me! If Geronimo likes you that much then no embarrassment here. You'll be alright, I have faith in you." she reassured him. Ger's mother left and ushered Silence to go get into normal clothes so they could all go explore the city.

"We have a vast amount of jungle up here, it's where I found a jaguar that I recently returned. Beyond the jungle is the loveliest beach around for miles. How 'bout we do some exploring, hm? Get out of this stuffy house for a bit." she suggested. Silence was off in a bolt to change and said she'd meet them downstairs. "I know you wanna go find her, and you will, but would you consider moving back to Golam once you do? We're very isolated but not corrupt, at least as much as can be expected."

Alec shrugged with a happy defeat, deciding that it wasn't such a terrible fate to escort a lovely lady to a social event. "I suppose I have no choice!" He said with a fake exasperation. "All right, miss Silence, after we go exploring, I'll get ready for you. It stands to reason that you'll be outshining me, but I hope I can at least hold a candle to your grace, madam. And thank you for your show of confidence." He watched silence go, and stretched lazily.

"Miss Geronimo, exploring sounds perfectly lovely. You have no idea how long I've been doing incredibly stuffy chores... it'll be quite nice to go out into the open and get to know my way around the area." He took a look around the grand house. "Actually, you might be surprised to know that Golam has been my home in my younger years, so coming back isn't even a question. I think it would be the perfect place to rebuild my life, especially with as good as friends as you and your family."

"Speaking of grace you should've seen her dance when we were kids, I could swear that she danced in her sleep the way everything she did was so precise." Silence simply ignored Ger's praise for the moment, waiting to let Alec see her at her finest in the ballroom rather than simply agreeing. She got her shoes and marched out of the house looking rather peeved, but that didn't matter to Ger, since Silence had never taken compliments all that well. "She gets flustered rather easily at compliments, it's nothing personal usually." she assured Alec before getting back into casual work attire and heading out with her companions. "Any places you'd like to see in town, perhaps they've changed since you last lived around here?"

Meanwhile Silence had half gotten lost in the streets and ended up running into Alec as she doubled back. "Don't remember this place ever being half so crowded as it is right now! Oh yes, there's some big shindig tonight, that explains the hustle and bustle." She never did get used to busy streets oddly enough. Then again she never got used to cities period if she was walking. Most of the boys left her alone because of who she was with, but that didn't stop her hiding as best she could out of habit.

Alec chuckled again. He pondered again. "Well... When people don't take compliments very well... Well, there are many reasons, but a lot of the times, I find that when you compliment a person and they disapprove, it's either because they think you have ulterior motives, or, alternatively, because they don't believe the compliment themselves. If you don't believe it, then you also generally think there's ulterior motives involved. Of course there are other reasons..." He tipped his head and thought about the area, and furrowed his brows. "Well, I lived in a bit of a poorer area... I'd rather not revisit my childhood roundabouts for personal reasons, but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't go on an exploration in the jungle. Nature is always more interesting than man-built landmarks - by far. It's fascinating to think about that nature makes so many wonderful things - well, man does too, but unlike nature, we have opposable thumbs - I never thought it was as impressive, as we have a big advantage that Nature doesn't have."

He looked at all the buildings in a bit of a haze. He had explored around the cities a lot as a kid, it was strange to think how much smaller everything looked now that he was older. Oh, certainly, the manors were still large, but not giants as they had been in the past. It was when he was looking at the buildings that Silence collided with him again. He laughed and put his hands on her shoulders and put her back at a less collision-intensive distance. "Yeah, it's a little more crowded than I'm used to seeing it, too. Well, I'm sure when the 'shindig' starts, the streets will clear up at least." he teased.

Ger led them off the beaten path to the edge of the city and smiled. "Past this bit is the beach, so be ready to have sand filled shoes." she warned. In the next instant she was up a tree and moving forward, while Silence sat shaking her head. "Same as she used to be. That girl was forever climbing trees and making her mother mad and causing trouble." she remarked as she marched forward through the foliage. "Come on! Let's follow the amazon!" she called as she looked back. Ger paused and sat on the branch she was on to wait for her two friends to catch up.

"Alec, I know you think you're old, but I know you can at least keep up with Silence! Come on the sun hasn't even set yet, we've some time for R&R before we gotta get dolled up!" It didn't take long for her brightly colored friend to get accustomed to dodging vines and low hanging branches, and thus Ger set off again to stay ahead as a guide. After a point Silence stopped again and sighed. "She never slows down, it's ridiculous!" Then again, Ger was the warrior with an insane amount of stamina and endurance, she wasn't, so it made sense. "Ger slow down just a bit! You're tough to keep up with!"

Alec grinned. "Old? I am indeed. Slowing down? ... No. Not even a little bit." He got a very "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" look.

Instead of following Silence on the ground, he hopped up, grabbed onto a branch, and pulled himself into the trees himself. He wasn't NEARLY as fast as Geronimo, but he was also very clearly far from feeble.

He probably could have gone a lot faster if he had been on the ground, but now he was at least not going to be accused of not being a risk-taker. Though he seemed oddly comfortable there. He tested each branch once or twice smartly, before moving forward. He didn't grow up in the trees, to be sure, but he didn't grow up not being a tree-climber, either.

But, the pace he moved through the trees, however comfortable he looked, was pretty sluggish. After about fifteen minutes and some good distance, he hopped back down as to not hold up the group any longer, and went on the way trying to play catch-up with Geronimo.

"R&R is the last thing I need," he decided aloud. "Like I said, I've been far too cramped up lately. Sure, I was a butler, but ..." he paused and glanced at Silence with a sparkle in his eye. "I'll race you the rest of the way," he challenged, like a school-boy, looking excited for the exercise.

Before Silence could agree or disagree to the challenge, Alec started off as fast as he could on the ground, ducking and dodging between branches and shrubs.

Silence watched the other two and first shook her head, then watched helplessly as Alec took off in the same direction as Ger had gone. "You two are going to kill me at this rate. . ." she muttered. She took a moment to check her surroundings and started walking off in a random direction, inevitably ending up a bit further down the beach, but at the beach nonetheless. The question then came to mind as to where her companions were. She began wandering to the right up the beach, and eventually stopped to sit down. "If Ger doesn't show up soon I'm dead." With little sense of direction without use of a map, on top of being on her own with a vast jungle between her and the town, she was in a heap of trouble.

Meanwhile, Ger had stopped once they got to the beach and froze. "Wait, where's Silence?" she asked a wee bit frantically. That girl had zero navigation skills, and it was a wonder she'd survived so long without said skills. There were reasons why the girl wasn't left unattended in strange places, and this was one of them! She looked around and called her name a few times, but got no response. "Oh dear, this is bad, this is very very bad! Silence! Where are you?" she called. "Alec where did you last see her?" There was no sense in pointing fingers as to whose fault it was, she just needed to be found.

There was a figure farther down the beach - a lithe, smallish figure. He seemed to be approaching Silence, but he was still a hundred yards away or so. Hard to make out much of him from that distance. But it did look like a child or adolescent individual. From the distance, the figure raised its arm to wave to Silence. He came forward at a casual pace, slowly coming into focus a little more. The kid kind of resembled Alec... even if he was too far off to see the face, he had the same frame, , certainly wore the same style of clothes...

Alec furrowed his brows and looked around. "She was... she was right..." Guilt washed over him and his face blanched. "I'm sorry, I thought she might be able to keep up, I didn't think I'd lose her. I don't remember these jungles being too dangerous.... We can find her." He put his head in his hand to think for a minute. "I'll check the beach, you check back in the jungles. We should split up. Whether we find her or not, we should set our meeting point for the beach. Thirty minutes. We'll look for thirty minutes and meet up at the beach. If we can't find her then, then... we can get more people to help. I don't know. We'll find her, she can't have gone too far," he promised.

Ger nodded and set a hand on his shoulder with a grin. "No beating yourself up, it's not your fault, my fault, or her fault. If anything she's safer on her own than with us! Everywhere she's been someone has a tale to tell about her temper. She's burned people, decked at least one person, and who knows how many hearts she's broken?" With that being said, she took off like a bat out of Hades into the jungle and started looking for Silence. She searched high and low, but no sign of her vibrant sister. Time started to slip away and she headed back to the treeline, but still no sign of her. Well, time for a stroll through the sand to keep looking!

Who the heck was this? She waved back and looked rather confused, it wasn't Ger because the figure wasn't tall enough and didn't have red hair, and it didn't have the sense of urgency in terms of walking pace that Alec possessed. "You look familiar. . ." she said to the figure. It was a boy, that was easy enough to tell, but there was something in his face that she'd seen somewhere before. It wasn't Russell, it wasn't Jack either, nor did it seem to be anyone else she was remotely acquainted with. It clicked as the figure seemed to move closer, this boy shared alarmingly similar features with Alec after all! "Alec???" she asked looking rather stunned and confused. "This can't be right. . ."

The lad came into earshot of Silence with some good hiking. This certainly was not anybody she knew... he wasn't identical to Alec, but certainly related. But, the boy seemed.... very, very off somehow. It was hard to say how exactly... maybe he didn't move very naturally, or maybe his eyes were too high... he didn't seem like a genuine human, is all. Human enough, though. "Greetings," the strange boy said as he got close enough to Silence to speak with her. Prim and proper, like Alec, too. Even his speech fluctuations seemed strange somehow. "I ... did not mean to startle you. I am looking for somebody. Have you seen a man named Alec? He is my father. I am Dmitri," he the kid asserted. "It is imperative that I locate him."

Alec gave a curt nod to Geronimo and started off in the opposite direction, unbeknownst to him getting farther from the very person he was looking for. Well, both people, really, since he was looking for Silence and Dmitri both at the moment. He called out for Silence hoping she would hear him, but his efforts were in vain.

(I'd post more but it'd just be filler and we all know that filler is lamesauce.)