Taj and Aero: Advent of the Feather King

Completely ignoring the pleading look that Demetri shot him, Alex could only star in silence at the man. Of all the things he thought or guess of the big man, this was certainly not one of them. To think that just a bit of alcohol could go to his head so easily… it was baffling. "Well, I suppose that we know what kind of drunk you are. The kind that grabs pretty girls by the skirt and coaxes them to bed. Good show, man." He patted Demetri on the shoulder, offering him something that looked like an apologetic smile. "But how do you feel about her? When you're sober, I mean."

*~*

Rose was starting to get a little better with the crying, her full-fledged sobbing turing more into very wet sniffles at this point. Oriana's embarrassment had her curious, and the odd shade of red that her cousin's face was turning. Her confession… left Rose a little speechless. Golden eyes searched Oriana's face for a trace that it was all a joke, absolutely unsure what to say. "You did… what?" She couldn't quite comprehend that her cousin would do such a thing, especially with Alex, who seemed to be the most annoying man that Oriana had ever met… or at least so she would describe him as. "Are you okay?"

Demetri looked away from Alex, thinking about the question he had just asked him. How did he feel about her? He had no idea how he acted sober but Rose was his light. The one person that actually seemed to care for him, heal some of his wounds even when it seemed impossible. But, after what he did to her last night, he did not deserve it. He rubbed his face in his hand, sighing sadly. It wasn't right. "I need her...." He admitted, not aware he had said the exact same thing the night before but it was the stark truth, something he could admit to Alex.

~*~*~*~

Oriana's eyes did not meet Roses' until she asked if she was okay. She held her hands out of from of her with a nervous smile. "Oh, fine fine. It was a mutual thing...." She scratched the back of her head, "Somehow..." She mumbled darkly. Alex was so sweet to her the night before, not one bit annoying that usually made her want to punch him. It left her heart pounding at the very thought. Alex...Did...She love him? Her face grew so hot she couldn't stand it, shaking her head to throw the thoughts from her mind. Oriana brought her attention back on Rose. "Are you okay though?"

For a while, Alex was quiet, simply studying Demetri who seemed to fall into an even deeper depression than what he was normally consumed with. He almost felt like patting the man on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but instead got to thinking about what he'd said. "If she were to hate you forever for what happened last night, what would you do? Apologize? Go after her? Or leave?" He tried not to sound too curious about the subject, but it really was something that he was interested in, being the social gossiper he was.

*~*~*

Mutual?! MUTUAL!? Rose was dumbfounded. How could Oriana… with Alex of all people!! It took her a minuet to react to Oriana's further concern about her. Instantly, her mood dropped when her own matters were brought back up, bringing the blankets up around her shoulders and retreating once more. "Yes, I'll be fine. I can sing my soreness away… that's not the problem." Heaving a small sigh, Rose closed her eyes briefly. "It's just a shock, you know? I gave him everything, but he doesn't remember at all…" Tears stung the back of her eyes again, and she held them back only just barely.

Demetri held his head in his hands as he thought about Alex’s question. What would he do? He himself hardly knew how to act around Rose, let alone if she actually hated him. He couldn’t even find the notion possible, and yet it was even clearer that she should. “I’d probably try to go after her…until she told me not to.” There was utter defeat in his voice. “I…wouldn’t want to leave but…if staying hurt her more…” His eyes met Alex’s for a moment, there was guilt layered upon guilt in his eyes, and then he sunk his head and shoulders once more back into his hands. “I wonder if this was how Rose felt when she had something put in her drink…” Demetri rubbed at his head harder, as if annoyed with himself. “No…At least she didn’t do…that.” He was arguing with himself, trying to ease the heavy guilt sitting on his shoulders and for all this efforts it did no good. He sighed and looked to Alex once more, his hair a discombobulated mess. “Should you not be bugging Oriana?” There was a bitterness to his voice that he did not really mean to let out.

~*~*~*~

Oriana looked at Rose and she wanted to sigh. “It’s not like he did it on purpose, right? How do you know he did not secretly mean it? I’m sure you know Uncle Kol can’t tell a lie when he is drunk, maybe Demetri is the same way?” Oriana shrugged not really sure if she was making a case for Demetri or trying to make Rose feel better. Probably both. “Demetri isn’t much of a talker…perhaps when he is drunk, he expresses what he normally can’t.” She wanted to say that was completely crazy for him to completely change with only one drink but it was worth a shot.

Well, that was a bit surprising. Alex had been completely certain that Demetri was utterly incapable of feeling emotion for another human being… let alone being concerned about what they thought of him in return. This really was a revelation, and he couldn't help but to smile when the man got even more flustered, attempting to steer the conversation away from his newly-discovered feelings. Alex clapped the bigger man on the back, a distant smile on his face. "She was beating the crap out of the twins last I saw. She's probably with Rose now." He stood and stretched, extending his wings fully and letting out a small groan. "You should probably talk to her later tonight when we settle down for camping." With his advice given, Alex gave Demetri a small wave and hopped off the roof down to the ground, walking back into the inn to see what was going on now that things apparently had settled down.

*~*~*

"Secretly mean it…?" Rose blinked and wiped at one of her eyes, sniffling as she did so. It was possible, she supposed. Her father and uncle never seemed to be able to keep secrets when they were inebriated, after all… She clung to that small hope, secreting it away for now. Nodding, Rose took a deep breath then let it loose, leaning forward and hugging her cousin gingerly. "Thank you Oriana." She whispered then pulled back and looked around the room to see where her clothes had gotten off to.

Demetri watched as Alex stood and gave his advice. He did not want to talk to Rose for fear of her giving him that look again. Fear of her crying with that painful look on her face that felt like a cold knife was being plunged into his heart. He nodded as Alex left and he sighed. Perhaps he would try to talk to her tonight but the thought scared him to death. Until they were ready to leave, Demetri would stay exactly where he was, sitting in his gloom.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon looked up when Alex came in the Inn, he had finally gotten Tristan to wake up and was giving him a glass of water. This morning had been a mess but Tristan got what he deserved for poking at Oriana's wrath and should have known that from the years. "Oriana is still upstairs." He said to Alex, taking a seat across from Tristan.

"Stupid man-woman." Tristan grumbled, rubbing at the already forming bruise on the side of his face.

~*~*~*~

Oriana nodded to Rose, glad that it seemed she said something correct to calm the girl down and hugged her back. She stood up and looked around the bed, finding the girls clothing and handing them to her before heading to the door. "And if the twins say anything, keep in mind I will happily knock another one of them out." She winked, and closed the door behind her with a soft click. She sighed gently as she left the room. She had went from not planning on telling anyone about what happened with Alex the night before to everyone knowing within a half an hour. She leaned against the wall near the stairs and knocked the back of her head against the wall softly.

She had collected herself a little more now, the venting done with Oriana having helped Rose to cope a bit with the rather traumatic start to the morning. Once her cousin left she began pulling on her clothes, extremely conscious of how sore she was all over. Half way through struggling to put on her pants, Rose finally gave up and sang quickly to herself, instantly feeling better once she'd worked out all of the cramps with the gentle song and resumed re-clothing herself, not at all looking forward to the heckling she would be receiving from her brothers.

*~*~*

Alex couldn't helped the twitch of a smile that begged at the corner of his lip when he saw Tristan out of sorts being helped by Ryleon. Those boys… Oh well, at the very least it was amusing to watch when the twins decided that they were going to cause trouble. Nodding, Alex thanked Ryleon quickly and went up the stairs, preparing to be ambushed by an angry Oriana as soon as he showed his face. When he could see over the last few steps, he was relieved to see that Oriana wasn't looking mad anymore. A bit run down yes, but not outright angry and vengeful as she had been when the dubious duo had made it very clear that they were totally up-to-date with the recent development between the two new lovers. Quietly he stepped up into the hall and walked toward her. "Seems like you've been through a lot already this morning. Are you doing okay?"

Oriana caught sounds of someone moving of the stairs but did not move, she looked over to Alex as he cautiously went up the stairs as if he had feared she would pounce on him. Well, she had only done it once before and that did not end up going in the direction she so wanted it to. She narrowed her eyes slightly at his kind sounding words and pointed to her neck, still unsure which side the mark was actually on. "I'm fine. Some warning would have had been nice this morning." She said a bit dryly as she stood fully and walked the rest of the way to him. She had taken most of her anger out on Tristan and the rest of it went out the window with Roses' news of what had happened this morning and the night before.

A thought crossed her mind for a moment, thinking of Rose and Demetri. "Alex...you remember last night, correct?" She did not mean to sound as nervous as she did but the slight emotion to her voice betrayed whatever game face she had on. She had no idea what she would do if the same thing that happened to Rose, happened to her.

Alex examined Oriana's neck and it didn't take him long at all to find the large purplish mark there that she was no doubt referring to. He couldn't help but to smile at how distressed she was sounds at this moment, though he knew that he had played no small part in the events that took place this morning. Her question however set him sober again, and with a small sigh he walked forward. Gently, Alex placed his hands on her forearms, his expression going gentle as he closed the distance between them, standing mere inches from Oriana. "Yes, I remember everything." He placed a careful kiss on her forehead and squeezed her arms gently. "Every kiss and word that was spoken…" He grinned, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, "…among other things."

---

Rose finished putting on her clothes, looking around the room one final time to make sure that she had left nothing else before heaving a sigh. The sun was barely up and already she felt like crawling into bed and hiding away beneath the covers from the world. With some hesitation she walked toward the door, and after mustering her courage a bit, she opened it, stepping out into the hallway only to look around and see Oriana and Alex having what looked to be a very private moment. Her face went red with a blush, and deep in her heart she was a little envious of the two. Alex looked at Oriana with such gentleness and devotion… what she wouldn't give to have Demetri act like that, even once. Stepping froward out of the doorframe, Rose cleared her throat loudly, hoping the two would scatter an they could get on it with. They had a long way to travel, after all.

Oriana watched carefully as Alex moved forward, keeping an eye on his expression go from his smug smirk to a more serious one as she asked her question. She was more than relieved to hear that he remembered, letting out a sigh she did not know she was holding. She held a look of vulnerability, somewhere around happy and relieved before the red tinge returned to her face once he started talking again. His small kisses sent little shocks down her spine and made her stomach flip. “I got the point.” She mumbled darkly, not always liking how easily he could make her off her game.

She looked up to see Rose come out of her room and clear her throat, going even more red in the face, Oriana pulled out of Alex’s arms and took a few steps away from him. “You okay?” She asked, feeling more confident now that Alex was not in her breathing space.
~*~*~

“Screw your sister.” Tristan grumbled to Ryleon, having his wits more about him now. There was a harsh throbbing on the side of his face, and his dark mood was more so to the fact that Ilario got away without any sort of punishment from the fire breathing dragon lady up the stairs.

“It’s your own fault for invoking her.” Ryleon reminded him, standing from his spot and looking down at the man. “I’m going to check on things.” He said, turning away from the troublesome twin and heading up the stairs. He was happy to see Rose out of her room and no longer sobbing and Oriana in a better mood. He put a small comforting hand on Rose’s arm and looked to the couple across from her. “Are we ready to leave then?”

With a sigh Alex let his hands drop by his sides, silently cursing Rose for choosing to make her appearance then at that moment. Oh well, not like it could be helped at this point. He looked up to Rose and saw that the girl had a very peculiar look on her face… Well, wasn't that interesting? Was that… envy, he saw? So, the things between her and Demetri really were starting to heat up, then? Poor man. He would hate to be on the short end of that stick. Innocent little Rose wasn't quite so innocent anymore, it seemed. Maybe her emotional range was also expanding. Wouldn't that truly be something?

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rose replied quietly, not quite meeting Oriana's eyes. "Let's just get going. I'm eager to breath some fresh air. We've a lot of distance to cover, don't we?" Not like they knew which direction they were really supposed to be going, but if they had to be getting nowhere, they might as well do it quickly. Rose brushed past the two, heading down the stairs, and stopped briefly when she met Ryleon half way. "Good morning." She mumbled before continuing downstairs, pointedly ignoring her brother except to spare him a cursory glance, taking some satisfaction in the huge bruise that had developed on her face. She wouldn't be healing that.

Ilario came in the door just as Rose walked out of it, practically being pushed aside by the smaller woman as he walked in the door. Blinking in confusion, he let the issue drop when he caught sight of Tristan's face. "Dude!!" He couldn't help but to laugh, walking over and roughly patting his brother on the shoulder. "Oriana pulled a number on you, didn't she?"

Oriana looked slightly concerned to Rose, unsure of what emotion she was really giving off and put it to being upset and crying her eyes out this morning. She nodded to her brother as he came up the stairs and then turned back to Alex. "Thank you.." She mumbled, and turned to follow after her cousin. It meant a great deal to her that Alex remembered and she wasn't hurting like Rose was.

Ryleon tried to speak more to Rose but she walked past him and did not seem to be stopping. He sighed, letting his hand rest on the hand rail and looked at the couple standing in the hallway. At least things were going alright for his sister. He let Oriana go past him and looked to Alex. "I assume you know where Demetri is and can tell him we are heading out." He turned back down the stairs and made his way to Rose's side, staying near her in case she needed him.

Tristan looked up to his brother, groaning slightly at the hit to his shoulder. "You would have gotten the same bruise had I not been a saint and took the hit for you." He grumbled, half serious.

Demetri sat on the roof in a state of depression and confusion. He had said far too many things last night and he did not remember a one of them. How terrible Rose must be feeling, maybe as guilty as he was feeling? Ugh, what was wrong with him?

Once outside Rose had to stop and wait for the others to catch up with her and took the few moments of alone time to breathe deeply and calm down a big, tipping her face up to look at the wide blue sky beyond the roofs of the houses. Perhaps the repetitive task of flying would keep her mind off of things, though quite unfortunately, she doubted it. Turning, she scanned the roofs briefly and her eyes locked onto a dark shape among the thatched and shingled rooftops, her breath catching in her throat briefly when she saw Demetri hunkered down, looking more miserable and sullen than usual. Quite a feat if she would stop to think about it, but there was no thinking about it at the moment. All at once her feelings bubbled up again, a slight stain on her cheeks when she beheld him, then the anger quickly followed after. Unbidden and completely out of control. her gold eyes flicked away from Demetri in a resolute way, and she pointedly examined some dirt on her boot, content to simmer in her anger rather than to try and talk to him.

--

"Heh, I'd feel bad for any poor fool that'd have you as a patron saint." Ilario chuckled, glancing up briefly to see Oriana and Ryleon start to come down that stairs, followed shortly by Alex. "Well, I'm going to beat a hasty retreat before my fortunes change." With a grin and another light pat to his brother's shoulder, Ilario turned and did just that, leaving the tavern and going outside where he would have a better chance of escape if Oriana flew into another rage. Literally or figuratively.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Alex spared the bar a quick glance then kept an eye on Tristan, seeing what the wounded man would do, if anything at all. Apparently Rose hadn't seen fit to fix him, for which Alex could only chuckle a bit inside for the twin. Well, at least it would be easier to tell the two apart for a few more days at the very least. Once outside he was a little surprised to see Rose staring with great intensity at the ground, then looked up and over his shoulder at Demetri still hiding out on the roof. "Must have caught sight of him…" He mumbled to himself, unable to help the little smile that began to form at the corner of his mouth. "Setting up camp should be very interesting tonight."

As Demetri looked out onto the landscape of the city he suddenly felt a cold chill down his spine, an uncomfortable feeling that made him uneasy. He looked around him to ensure his senses were not telling him of an attack when he caught sight of Rose on the ground. At this point she was looking at her shoes in a rather determined manner and looked as though she had not seen him. A lump caught in his throat at thinking of his own actions to her. Hiss chest tightened with emotion and he had to look away from her. How did he come to feel so much for her that it would hurt this bad? Putting his own emotions aside, he realized it was time to leave and stood on the roof, ready to take to the air as quick as anyone.

Tristan sent his brother a glance at the comment of his saint hood and then stood, going after him and looked at his sister. "Is there something on your boot that interests you so much?" He asked, keeping a fair amount of distance away from the girl in case she too would come after him.

Oriana knew when she saw Rose staring at the ground that she had probably seen Demetri, looking on the roof she saw the dark haired man standing there and ready to go. So he wasn't even coming down then, was he? She did not blame him, unsure how she would act if in either of their positions. She waited for Alex to come outside. "Well...let's go." She had no idea which direction, but Demetri had gotten them this far and they just had to make sure not to back track, right? And with that thought, she was in the air.

When Tristan talked to her, Rose's gaze snapped up, venom in her eyes. She didn't want to deal with him, and it clearly showed in her postures. "Yes, I can't even describe how unbelievably fascinating the mud on my boot is to you, for I am sure that your tiny little brain and lack of understanding of the finer things in life would be completely over your head." Her anger having trickled out, she turned on her heel and spread her wings. "If you're ready now? We need to save our parents." In a flurry she was off, leaving behind a few feathers in her wake as she took to the sky without a backward glance.

Alex watched from behind Oriana, shaking his head slightly. Yes, it really would be quite interesting when they were all cooped up tonight for camp. He could only wonder if Demetri's penchant for hiding in trees would keep him from being castrated. He took off after Oriana, following her into the sky.

Ilario had a very confused look on his face after Rose took off, raising an eyebrow in the direction of his twin before taking off as well, confused as to what sort of creature had possessed their sister.

Tristan was slightly taken aback at how vicious his sister was towards him, expecting a more sarcastic or, leave-me-alone response from the normally docile girl. Perhaps there was something in the water she drank? Either way he was going to miss the city, and what the girls had to offer him and his brother. Now he was just going to have to deal with his grumpy sister in the middle of no where while Alex gets some and no one else does, how terrible. He took to the skies, with a pounding headache and grumpy disposition.

Demetri watched as Rose snapped at Tristan and winced inwardly, this was painful. He knew it was his fault she was in this mood and there was no way he could think to approach her until she calmed down. Sighing in defeat, Demetri took to the skies to join the others.

~*~*~*~

The tension could easily be cut by a dull knife in the camping area, and Demetri was not even going to try to get near it. He helped get some firewood before climbing into a tree and promptly pulling his cloak around him to block off the outside world. He wanted to talk to no one and about nothing, mostly Rose. He figured he would give her some time to cool off before trying to talk to her anyway.

Oriana felt awkward, not knowing what to do with the uncomfortable tension and it caused her to start pacing after setting up camp and eating dinner. She looked to Alex, going over to his side and sitting next to him and looking at the fire. She had no idea what to do and did not want to upset Rose further by saying something.

Tristan on the other hand had decided to drag Ilario out away from the group to see if he could make a mark on his twins face like his own in a sparring match. The excersie got out an pent up frustration he had and of course added to his ever growing bruise collection

Though he had been looking forward to seeing what sort of awkwardness would ensue tonight when they camped down, Alex hadn't entirely been prepared for the gloomy silence that enveloped the entire campsite. Demetri was being droll as usual, though perhaps with a bit more intensity than the norm. The twins had taken their mischief elsewhere, leaving a brooding Rose to herself on the opposite side of the campsite sewing up some patches in clothing with a vigor that was slightly terrifying in nature. Who knew that sewing could be so vicious looking?

Oriana's familiar presence was welcome at his side, and immediately he stretched his wing over her shoulder and brought her closer, pecking her cheek lightly with a quick kiss. "No need to be nervous. It's not like we're the ones fighting."He said quietly, though surely not quietly enough to escape Rose's sharp hearing. An answering hiss of pain came from Rose's corner of their campsite, and Alex didn't even have to look up to know that the girl had been distorted by his comment and pricked herself with her needle.

Oriana knew she felt her face go slightly red when Alex pulled her in closer, not used to such close contact from him and not having herself want to hit him in return. She slowly relaxed next to him and looked to Rose when she pricked her finger. There was such a tense aura coming from the girl and while she wasn't exactly on the same page as Alex was in making her mad, she knew something was up. Grabbing Alex's hand she stood and pulled him up with her. "Lets go for a walk..." she suggested, and turned away from him slightly to look at Rose. Oriana was not the type of girl to be able to sit there and give comforting words, and even if that was what Rose needed right now, Oriana was sure she would probably say something just to upset her more.

"Rose, we'll go take a walk around the area, alright?" She said, turning back to Alex and leading him away from the camp site. She looked up at him, "Perhaps she needs some time to herself." She was completely oblivious to Alexs' little game he was playing with Rose.

Rose simply sighed, putting her pricked finger in her mouth to ease the pain, nodding to Oriana's words. "Be careful not to get lost." She mumbled, looking back down at her sewing and continuing the job that she had started, the manual repetitive labor helping to keep her mind off of more complex things. Like Demetri.

He didn't have to be asked twice to get up and follow Oriana elsewhere, though it would have been more fun to stay and provoke Rose more. Oh well, alone time with Oriana could really only end in one of a few ways, and he knew very well that talking about feelings probably wasn't going to be one of the options. He kept close as they walked from camp, waiting until they were out of Rose's line of sight before slipping his arm around her waist, falling into step with her shorter strides. "Feeling the need to get away for some alone time, hm?" Alex asked softly, the beginnings of a sly grin on his face.

Oriana looked back to Rose once more before setting her sights on the forest in front of her, suddenly feeling Alex's arm snake around to her waist. She looked up and would have had been blushing if not for the sly, cocking looking grin forming on his face. "I figured Rose needed some time to herself." She said a bit dryly, not pulling away despite her obviously noting the look on his face. She looked down then, thinking of Rose, and her one and only thought for the girl was that it must suck to be her right now. "Besides, I'm sure her mood would not improve with you around anyway."

Alex snorted indelicately, a hurt look on his face. "What, me? You think that I would have any reason at all to put Rose in a bad mood? Or make her in a worse state, rather. I think she's doing pretty good on her own without my help." He would be a little surprised if Oriana knew that he was doing it on purpose, displaying his affection in front of Rose to make the girl jealous and finally sent her over the edge toward her breaking point. He hoped that having the girl finally muster up some backbone would stop all this wishy washy feeling stuff that she was so good at. At best, it could solve the tension in camp. At worst, it would be a disastrous but infinitely amusing blowout if or when Rose actually reached that critical point. His smile became a little more subdued, and he dropped a kiss on the side of Oriana's head lightly, his lips barely brushing her hair. "But in all honesty, I'm glad that we've put the bickering behind. You're cute when you're mad, but you're far more beautiful when you blush."

Oriana continued to give Alex a dry look as he tried to claim innocence about ever possibly being able to put her cousin in a sour mood. Sure, she might not have been aware of what he had be going on about before, putting it to the fact he was probably taking advantage of being able to get close to her now, but he had never been innocent if he could put in a word or two to watch someones reaction. She should know that of all people.

As he drew in closer to her, pressing his lips against the side of her head, there was no stopping the blush after the sweet words started rolling off of his tongue. Oriana wasn't entirely used to being talked so sweetly too, and wasn't even sure if it were a ploy to get something he wanted. He had been spinning gentle words at her since they had met, but then again..."You just enjoy toying with me, Alex." Her words were a little mumbled, refusing to meet his gaze. Those eyes of his would simply melt her and she knew it.

He chuckled softly, stopping and gently grabbing both of her shoulders and drew in front of her so that he could meet her gaze, bending his head down so that their foreheads were nearly touching. "I'm long past the point of toying, Oriana." Alex said the words softly, a conversation just for the two of them, his dark brown eyes searching out the vivid blue of Oriana's own. "This would be categorized somewhere along the lines of wooing. Do you feel woo'd?" He pressed his lips to hers in a slow kiss, hoping that she'd respond to the advance.

A chilly wind crossed his nearly bare back, and sent a shiver down his spine. His short dark spikes of hair falling in around his face and provided little protection from the wind. "Enroy! Where are you?!" He called out, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. While it had warmed up as of recent, during the nights it was still chilly. His dark blue eyes scanned the sky and sighed helplessly. He had lost his little brother when suddenly he shouted something about seeing something interesting. Soon enough the young man did come across something interesting, a camp site that looked almost completely empty save for a woman sitting near a fire, stitching something in an angry fashion. He decided to keep back, to see if anything was going on or if he should approach this woman.

Before he got the chance to observe her, he heard a rustle in the bushes around him. Putting a hand on the hilt of his sword, he prepared to defend the defenseless looking woman if need be. His adrenaline was wasted however when he saw his little brother run out into the camp site. His eyes widen in horror and he had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from calling out. What was he doing?!

The small child, no older than six or seven came running into the camp site, across from Rose. His shaggy, slightly curly hair hung in his face nearly covering his large chocolate brown eyes that seemed far too innocent for the world they were currently in. He had a pair of tan speckled wings sitting on his back, that seemed too small for him to fly with. As he came running in he stopped across the fire from Rose and smiled widely. "Pretty!" He said, looking at Rose and bobbing over to her and gently grabbing onto a piece of her hair to look at it. His clothes were worn, obviously old and had not been repaired in some time. There were small cuts and bruises around his face, arms and knees.

When his brother came out and grabbed the girls hair, the man couldn't just sit there and watch, coming out of the bushes and bowing at the waist. "I'm so sorry! I lost track of my little brother!" He apologized, a look of slight horror on his face from his brother grabbing onto someones hair that they did not even know. "Enroy, leave her hair alone!" He hissed in a hushed voice, not wanting to scare Rose or bring out any friends that might be around.

As he stepped closer to the fire, Rose would be able to see that he was in equally bad shape as his brother, his clothes hanging from his lean frame and similar but less bruises on his body. He had the same color wings as the small boy and had the same color hair but his eyes showed the wealth of experience the world had offered him. He was a handsome fellow, if only a little malnourished.

"Please, forgive him, he is too young to know how to act around a beautiful women..." His words were a little embarrassed, looking at Rose for only a moment and then on the ground where it seemed he felt more comfortable looking. "My name is Rethin, and this is my younger brother Enroy. I'm truly sorry for bothering you."

Enroy did not like the idea of leaving the pretty golden strands as his brother commanded, wrapping part of it around his finger and letting it shine in the light of the fire. "Gold!" He laughed, liking the feeling of this new 'gold' he had found.

Rose heard the intruders long before she could possibly hope to see them. Though her hearing wasn't as good as her mother's she could still pick up the distant call of somebody in the woods. At first she perked up and listened, abandoning her sewing for a few seconds to see if she could hear it again. Then, when the call didn't come again she assumed it was the wind playing tricks on her and resumed her self-assigned duty, taking better care not to prick her fingers anymore.

Her attention was quite suddenly wrenched up from her project though when she heard steps. Too light to be anyone big and those metallic creatures didn't exactly have feet. The boy was a blur to her until he ran into the light of the fire, and she was more than a little surprised to see him there. What in the world was he doing out at this hour?! And with all avians being hunted by those floating monsters… He looked a little beaten up too, and on the hungry side. But the surprises didn't end there. Rose could only watch as suddenly a second person came running out of the darkness at her, apologizing quickly for the younger boy's actions. So, they were related? Her golden eyes flicked between the two. Yes, there was certainly a family resemblance there, she could see it. Both of them were quite cute, though in much different ways. She couldn't help but to blush a little at the compliment, taken off-guard by his straight forwardness.

"It's perfectly alright!" Rose replied quickly, feeling sorry for the two. It wasn't exactly warm during the nights even this far south, but the both of them were wearing little more than rags. She smiled at the little boy and ruffled his hair gently, not bothering to disengage his fingers from her own golden locks. Her heart ached to see her younger siblings again, the little boy before her bringing up the memory of them up sharp and quick, a sad smile on her face. "I'm Roselina Serenoa." She replied, looking up to the elder brother and offering him a gentle smile. "But you can call me Rose if you'd like. Are the two of you… refugees?"