Taj and Aero: Advent of the Feather King

For a moment Alex didn't believe what Tristan had said, then a wide boyish grin broke out on his face. Another game to add on to his wooing of Oriana? This he could do. Ilario followed his brother inside and wished both Alex and the Snowman a good night before turning in himself. Stretching, Alex took one look at Demetri perched in his tree, shook his head and went in for the night, a little more than dismayed to see that the sleeping bag next to the lump that he assumed was Oriana had been occupied already. Oh well. He could always try in the morning.

*~*~*

Ilario groaned as he woke, rubbing his bleary eyes against the invasive light of the morning sun. Once he was awake enough to open his eyes he saw with some dismay that even here inside the tent it was freezing. He could see his breath form in clouds when he exhaled, never a good sign. Well, they were still high up and close to the mountains to boot, so it was only to be expected during the winter. That didn't mean that he couldn't grumble about it, however. Heaving a sigh he rolled out of bed and pulled on some extremely cold clothes, shivering as he did so and stepped out of the tent. The fire had gone out in the night and true to form the Snowman was perched in his tree. He wondered how Demetri did this sleeping in trees thing, assuming that it had to be painful to sit in that position all night and then decided that he didn't care. Whatever floated his boat…

Instead he went about making preparations for starting the morning off right; namely, by going and collecting firewood. On his way into the woods he stopped under Demeteri's tree and watched him a while to see if he were actually awake up there. "Allo Snowman! How went your watch last night?"

Alex was woken up by Ilario's movement in the tent, but since it was freezing and he was still rather tired and exhausted from the flying all of yesterday he happily pretended that he was still asleep. After all, he really needed his rest. For the past few months he had been surviving on meager meals that were gone bad half the time and was pretty much all skin and bones. Letting the others take care of things while he conserved his strength was beneficial to his health. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Demetri had woken long before the morning light had cast its bright rays onto the group’s tent but as usual remained in his perch where he felt most comfortable. He saw movement in the tent and looked down to see Ilario coming out first. To his question he answered simply, “Uneventful.” And by the tone of his voice it was hard to tell whether or not he was disappointed by this fact or not. Apathy always ran thick in his voice and he doubted it was going to change anytime soon.

“Collecting firewood?” He asked, and figured the question was correct when he noted the direction he was heading in. Shaking off the cold, Demetri slipped down from the branch and landed next to Ilario. Without waiting for him to say anything, Demetri made his way into the forest to start collecting the bits of tree scraps for material.

He thought for a long moment while collecting the wood to look Ilario straight in the eye. “Do you think she will attempt to kill you this morning?” He spoke of his sister, unsure or not whether to stay away from the woman or not.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon and Tristan woke at the same time, looking at each other and groaning at the crisp cold air that floated in the tent and somehow snaked its way through their blankets. Both boys stood and made their way out of the tent; Tristen giving once last look to Alex in hopes he would retrieve their money before exiting. “Damnit, I thought for sure it would be at least a little warming feeling.” Looking around, Tristan squinted, trying to find his brother and Mr. Doom and Gloom…or was it Gloom and Doom, Pah, who cares? “Perhaps they went to get firewood.” He said out loud seeing his cousin looking around the campsite. He gave him a curt nod and began to get out the cooking supplies.

Oriana on the other hand just bundled closer to her blankets, making herself into the tightest cocoon she could get herself into and rolled away from the cold, refusing to acknowledge it. She wanted at least a few more minutes, a half hour if she could get it, before rolling out of her comfortable warmth.

"She..?" There were plenty of 'she' that might want Ilario dead, especially with all of the nonsense that he and Tristan pulled with the human village girls of Turich. Picking up a hefty looking stick, he pondered that question for a bit to try and figure out just what it was that Demetri meant before it clicked in place. "Oh! You mean Rose, right?" He chuckled, adding the stick he had been examining to the pile in the crook of his arm and moved on to search the ground for more kindling. "Nah. Rose couldn't hurt a fly even if she tried. Our old man wouldn't even hear anything about letting her or any of our other sisters pick up any sort of fighting skills. Besides, it's not in her nature. She wants to help everything." Ilario rolled his eyes at the thought of his sister's penchant for finding anything hurt and nursing it back to health, be it a kitten or a dragon. His gaze slid to Demetri as if sizing the man up briefly. Half of her insane infatuation with this guy might be the fact that he was a lot like those wounded animals she used to take care of. He had the same feral qualities and his wounds were no longer the physical kind, a much harder type of scar to heal. Oh well, not like he had any interest in Rose, so there was no point in worrying about it.

*~*

Rose was woken up by all the movement going on and the chill that pervaded her sleeping space. What she wouldn't give for a nice warm fire right about now… She tried to stay as bundled up as possible while she found her discarded clothes and put them on, shivering with the freezing temperatures. Hopefully by the afternoon it wouldn't be quite so bad… She looked once to Alex and decided that she's leave him alone for now. He needed all the rest he could get, all skin and bones as he was. With a small sigh she stepped out into the clearing that they had camped in, stretching as she did so. "Good morning." She said with a yawn, looking with a measure of disappointment at the unlit fireplace. Her gaze scanned the trees briefly, but there was no Demetri up there being the look out. "Where did Ilario and Demetri get off to?"

*~*

Success! His plan of feigning sleep had worked! He could probably get another half hour of sleep like this… but then again… Fate had conspired to get everyone save himself and Oriana out of the tent. A slow grin spread across his face as he kicked off his sleeping bag and quietly moved over toward where the girl was still wrapped up. Now what had Ilario and Tristan wanted? Oh right. Their money. Not like he really cared about it, but feigning to search for the money was good enough an excuse for him. With infinite patience he managed to slip Oriana's grip off of her blankets enough for him to get his hands at her side. It was a well-known fact that all females were ticklish somewhere, and this was the best place to start.

Demetri weighed Ilario’s words for a long moment of silence, picking up another grouping of twigs that he deemed worthy enough to keep a fire going. “How does she plan to survive out here?” He asked, confused as to how she thought she was going to be all right without any skills besides healing. They were lucky thus far, not running into any bandits, thieves, or anything else but he attributed it to being in the cold mountains. Once they were over and out into warmer weather there was no telling what they may run into. Thinking back on the city he lived in women didn’t really have to learn to take up arms but usually did to protect their own. Was Roses’ family that well off and secure that they wouldn’t even consider training the females? He shook his head once again, sending his dark locks of hair flying around his face as he bent down to pick up another stick. “This should be enough.” He commented looking from the pile in his arms to the one in Ilario’s. Since we plan on going in the city, its not as if we need enough for the entire day.” He reasoned, making his way back to the campsite.

Ryleon and Tristan looked back to Rose when she came out, mumbling their good mornings to her. “I think they went to get firewood.” He said again to his sister, and as he was saying it the two boys emerged from the woods with a pile of sticks in each of their arms. Pleased with his guess, he went over and took part of the load from the boys to help start the fire.

~*~*~*~

Oriana had dozed off in her warm cocoon and unbeknownst to her Alex was still in the tent. She didn’t wake to his gentle prying of her hands from the blanket, but the moment he touched her side she involuntarily jerked in the blankets. Her eyes snapped open but it was far too late. Alex had figured out in a mere two days the secret she had been hiding for nearly all nineteen years of her life. She was rather ticklish. She began thrashing around violently, but was restricted from the tight roll of her covers she had put herself in. In between her fits of laughter she started pleading for whomever it was to stop. She got a chance to look up and a flash of orange and black caught her attention. Alex! “S-Stop!” She tried to yell at him, unable to contain her laughter as she wiggled about. “I swear…I will kill you!”

It was several, tortuous long moments before Oriana could get herself to pull her arms out of the blankets and to function as she wanted them to. Grabbing both his arms, Oriana pulled herself up and over him to pin him on the ground. A death glare was all over her face now along with a tear or two from her insistent laughing. “If you tell a single soul about this I will rip the good looks right from your face.” She hissed in warning, pinning him down as hard as she could until she got the answer she wanted.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon looked from the tent, to the group and back again. He had not heard Oriana laugh that hard in a rather long time. What made it all the more confusing was there seemed to be some violent moving going on within the tent. “What the…?”

Tristan grinned, thinking Alex was actually following through with his plans to get the money back, but Oriana would not be laughing…perhaps that was her evil laugh? He chuckled at the thought but decided to check it out. Opening the flap of the tent just slightly he caught a view of Oriana lying directly on top of Alex. When he stood back up, Tristan had a rather stupid grin on his face. “Seems they need some alone time.” He mused to himself and saw the slightly horrified look on Ryleon’s face. “Calm down.” He assured the worried brother.

Ilario was unsure exactly what Demetri was getting out. He severely doubted that Rose expected to do much of anything except for tag along and patch up anyone that got hurt. Survival wasn't much of an issue as far as he was concerned either. Rose was surrounded by people who knew how to fight and handle a sword. Himself and Tristan for one, and of course Oriana. If things got too bad they could always rely on Ryleon to back them up, but with Tristan's ability to enchant their weapons so that they would be effective against those metal heads… Well, he couldn't foresee a time when Rose would be too horribly in danger as compared to the rest of them. Besides, if their old man ever found out that Ilario had even considered for a second trying to teach Rose swordplay they would probably be severely punished. Or just totally kicked out of the family. That too. He was going to say as much, but the gloomy Snowman had decided that they had enough firewood for now and was happy to head back to camp. A fire, and more importantly breakfast, sounded really nice right about now.

It was hard to look at Demetri straight without feeling heat creep into her cheeks, so she simply didn't look at him straight. She could look at his hands or his feet, perhaps even his elbows, but anything other than that was chancing turning herself into fodder for her brother's amusement. That was something she absolutely would not do and so busied herself with helping Ryleon relight the fire in order to make breakfast. When she heard Oriana almost literally sounding like she was dying of laughter she almost got up to check on her and see if she was alright. What in the world was going on? She had never heard her cousin laugh so hard for so long. In fact, she hardly ever heard the girl laugh at all. Heart of stone, that one. Boiling, angry, insensitive stone…

Finally Tristan got up to go get her, and by his reaction she fathomed that she didn't want to see what was going on in there. Oh no, had Alex done something to her? And she had just left them… she thought it would be okay since Alex was all skin and bones and probably exhausted to boot… Oh no…

*~*

Oriana's pleas for him to stop the tickle torture fell on deaf ears, as did her threats to kill him. He was simply enjoying seeing the girl wiggle and squirm, completely defenseless and thoughts of later physical harm that would come to his person were far outweighed by the spectacle. Once she finally got free however Alex's world suddenly turned into a blur and was resolved with him being pinned to the ground, Oriana lodged firmly on top of him. But he didn't panic. Oh no, he grinned, a slow grin that reached his eyes as he kept still beneath Oriana. Vaguely he noted that someone poked their head in for the briefest of seconds, but didn't at all mind.

"Mmm, so you do think I look good, hm?" He asked with that coy look on his face, flexing his fingers slightly to keep circulation going. "Normally I prefer tops, but for a deadly sex goddess like you, I'll happily let you take top this time. Go ahead, ravish me to your delight, you naughty woman you."

Demetri hardly took notice that Rose would refuse to meet his gaze as he set up the fire with the rest of the boys. Demetri really was a smart person, but when it came to girls and social things, he was pretty much clueless. He had not really had much time to socialize and not trusting anyone anymore didn’t really help his chances to recover from it anyway. Not as if he wanted to. His attention was only brought to the shenanigans in the tent when it went silent and he stopped what he was doing to look and make sure someone hadn’t died or something.

Oriana wanted to slap her head, but couldn’t or else he would be free. She had set herself up for that. What she didn’t expect though was his next string of comments that brought a dark and hot blush to her face. “IN YOUR DREAMS!” Oh, she wanted to punch him until that smirk would never return to his face but instead she brought a knee up and slammed it into his stomach. “Pervert!” She turned, letting him go now to get out of that cursed tent. Her face was still hot, she knew a blush was obviously on her face so she stormed off into the woods enough where they couldn’t see her face and leaned against a tree. If only her morals would allow her to kill innocents.

Tristan’s foolish grin remained on his face as Oriana stormed from the tent. “Was he that good?” He asked her but apparently she was too pissed off to hear him as she stormed off to find a tree to stand next to. He poked his head around, trying to look into the tent, expecting to see carnage.

The pain in his stomach was worth it Alex decided, even though he felt like he was about to puke out his guts from the powerful knee to the gut. Red was a good color on her, especially when she was blushing… over him. Though the result wasn't exactly his intent he was still happy with the result of their little conversation. Rubbing his belly he managed to get to his feet, standing up in time to see Tristan look around. He emerged, shrugging to the curious looks he was getting from the bemused twins. "Sorry guys, I didn't find where she was keeping the money."

"The money…?" Rose inquired, instantly suspicious of her brothers in setting this up. She felt bad for Oriana, but her feelings of womanly fellowship were slightly tainted by the other girl's blasé comment from last night. "You mean the money she took from you two? That's what this was about?"

"Well, we asked Alex to get the cash back. But I think he added his own flair to the search and rescue mission." Ilario replied with a grin, looking to the other man for confirmation.

Alex shrugged, raising his hands in a surrender motion. "Guilty as charged."

Rose narrowed her eyes and stood, eyeing her brothers and Alex with the most wilting glare she could muster. "You're all pig-headed miscreants. I hope that you are happy with what you've wrought." She let her glare continue for a few more seconds before turning abruptly and following Oriana out of camp, following her tracks until she spotted the older girl. "Oriana? Are you alright?"

Tristan frowned at the news of lack of money had not really expected otherwise. His cousin was never known to give in and even more so to another boy other than her brother. She held a soft spot for him.. His grin returned when Rose started to scold him, yes in fact he was happy with what they had wrought. It was boring for everyone to get along every second of the day. Something nagged at him though and he ran a hand through his hair “Alex…Why was she laughing to hard? I couldn’t assume she found your antics funny?” He asked, eyeing the man. Tristan could not possibly guess the woman was ticklish so the thought never crossed his rather entertained mind.

Ryleon however was not happy when his sister was involved in the twins plotting. He felt a protective urge rise within him that he could only assume came from his father. He fully knew that Talos was well known for his over protective nature towards women, and while he didn’t feel that protective, he wanted his sister out of the mess. He found himself glaring at the twins but not overly so and caught himself, pleased Rose went after Oriana.

Oriana was more then ready to pounce on whoever was coming out there but when she saw the blonde girl coming towards her she calmed slightly, rubbing a hand on her face. “Yeah.” She wasn’t really used to talking to her cousin without being annoyed, but right now talking to a female sounded so much better.

For a brief second Alex contemplated revealing Oriana's secret. He was supremely surprised that Tristan and Ilario hadn't noticed that their cousin was extremely ticklish along her sides. They seemed like the type to take any advantage and run with it, so why didn't they… and then it clicked and the brief second was over. So, this was Oriana's little secret that she had been hiding, huh? And now it was his secret as well. Very interesting development indeed. He smiled easily to the twins, waving off the question as if it weren't important. "I have my manly charms and other ways to make a woman laugh. Perhaps some day I'll teach you them." A good dose of snobbery always put an end to questioning, and even though he could tell that they were curious, Ilario simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching Ryleon make breakfast, totally missing his cousin's evil look that he had attempted to shoot him. It was far more entertaining to watch Rose try and be threatening, after all.

Rose walked closer to her cousin, standing nearby with her arms crossed over her chest to conserve heat and keep from shivering in the chill of the morning. "Those boys will do anything, won't they? Animals." She huffed, her breath forming a small cloud and disappearing into the branches above. "And that Alex doesn't help any. He's worse than Ilario and Tristan! At least they're smart enough to try and earn a lady's affection before trying to be quite so lewd. What did he do to you? I heard that he was looking for the money that you took from my brothers on their behalf."

Oriana had to hide her surprise when Rose mentioned that Alex was supposed to be looking for money. There was no way he was really looking for anything on her but a ticklish nerve. She groaned, letting her head hang limply at the thought that he was probably telling the twins about his discovery this very second. She had her hands full enough with Alex let alone the twins. “I agree he is worse.” She admitted, eyeing her cousin over, relaxing her guard some. She decided not to tell Rose about the tickle attack until she was sure Alex wasn’t going to hold the secret over her head. “I found it utterly ridiculous that he would even attempt to take the money back from me.” She answered, finding it easy to lie about her little secret. It always had been, and lucky for her she had never let anyone (but her father) close enough to tickle her.

“He hasn’t done anything that I would not kill him over.” She assured her cousin, noting the worried look on her face. She thought for a moment that was probably a lie as well but not one that bothered her one bit. Oriana assumed Alex would try something one day and she would not be able to keep herself from hurting him.

Though Oriana delivered her little lies with a completely straight face, Rose was still suspicious of her. She had never known her cousin to the jovial about anything, and couldn't imagine her laughing so hard for so long just because Alex was trying to pickpocket her. Beating him to a pulp she could believe, perhaps even laughing scornfully while she did so, but that laughter didn't sound very scornful earlier. Obviously Oriana was hiding something, but Rose wasn't sure if she should pry into the matter. "Well, I don't know why he is so eager to try and get his face punched in, but hold strong cousin. I was disgusted that he thought he could simply buy you. I would give him a piece of mind as well if I were physically up to it." She smiled lightly, hoping that her cousin would take this as a comforting statement and not an offensive one. "Who knows? Maybe while we're in the city today he'll find some other skirt to chase after and leave us alone."

¡!¡!¡!¡!¡

Didienne lived up to its reputation and more. The huge city was filled with people bustling to and fro, going about their daily business completely ignoring the small flock of avian children for the most part. They saw all sorts of folks in this prosperous trading city from all corners of the continent, so the winged kids weren't exactly the most strange things that they had ever seen. Rose could only look on at the city in wonder having never been in such a busy place. The buildings here were tall and made from stone, not like the squat little houses of wood that they had in Turich. And the streets were cobbled, the hooves of the horses that trotted past making loud clacking noises agains the hard surface. There was just so much noise and activity here… She could easily get lost just looking at the architecture. Rose had read about this city of course, but it was something different all together to actually come and see the
place.

Ilario was a little less impressed with the amount of people and the building structure. His eyes were taking in the sights that all men were interested in. For one, he made sure to pick out the shops by sight, and secondly he got an eyeful of the local wildlife. Women in the city were much more flamboyant than the plain Janes back in Turich. Grinning, Ilario elbowed his brother and pointed to a woman that was all dressed up, makeup and all. "Wonder what the city ladies are like?" He asked suggestively, already pondering the possibilities of getting entangled with one of these fine women during their short stay.

Alex was far less impressed with Didienne than his traveling companions and so didn't look at all interested in his surroundings. He visited Yarrowitz often since he had lived near there before being captured by pirates and shipped all around the continent some months back. Though Didienne was slightly larger than his home city, it was only marginally bigger. It was too bad there wasn't a branch of his family in the area, else he could simply go visit them and get himself back home instead of trekking along with these East coast poor kids. Well, Ilario, Tristan and Rose weren't poor, but they didn't exactly act as upperclass as Alex had come to expect from fellows in his wealth bracket. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to end up saving them from an irate stall vender.

Oriana smiled with contentment. She was used to this city more than most and pretty much knew her way around. She patted her waist, counting all three money bags, hers included. She looked at the rest of the group. “I suppose if we meet during dinner time, we could all go off. Meet back up here once the sun starts setting.” She turned a dry look to Alex. “And if you happen to get lost, please, hesitate to find us.” She said, heading off into the throngs of people first. If someone wanted to tag along, she wasn’t going to protest, but Oriana knew they needed a few things and that would be her first destination.

Tristan’s eyes glowed with the same glint as his brother’s. The only structure he wanted to look at was the beautiful women walking all about them. “I think we shall find out.” He responded and a thought came into his head. He glanced to Ryleon trying to follow his sister and grinned. “What if we make him a bit more of a man? Plus he may know a few spots for us to play in.” He suggested to Ilario, putting a hand on Ryleon's shoulder and pulling him in closer under his shoulder. “Why not stick with us today, hmm?” He began walking in the opposite direction of Oriana, despite his complaints.

Demetri on the other hand wanted nothing to do with this huge city. He had never been in one, and now never wanted to be. His worst nightmares could come to life in this busy place. Not only was it an encampment full of distrustful people but if there were spies or the floating warriors hanging around it could cause a mass panic. He shifted nervously near the gate, watching Oriana go off first, and then Ilario, Tristan and Ryleon. He had no doubts Alex would follow after Oriana and Rose would be stuck with him. He sighed. The girl wouldn’t be able to take care of herself if someone tried to mug or rape her. He wanted to sigh again, but didn’t waiting for Rose to pick the direction to go in.

Though splitting off in different directions sounded a little scary, Rose didn't really have much choice. Her brothers were apparently delighted with the idea of being left alone in this strange city and dragged Ryleon off with them. She made a disgusted face, not even wanting to know what the two of them were going to get up to when left to their own devices. She half expected for a quarter of the city to be rioting by nightfall with those two on the loose. before she knew it Oriana had disappeared along with Alex and she was none the wiser to which way they had gone. And then it occurred to her that Oriana had never said where to meet at dinner time and heaved a heavy sigh. "I suppose that we should go after her, or else we'll never meet up again in this big-" She turned to make sure that Demetri would follow and stopped talking.

Her exasperated expression was quickly replaced with one of concern. Demetri looked stiff as a board, his normally apathetic mask now replaced with an expression that she normally associated with small animals that had just been cornered by her brothers when they were up to no good. "Demetri?" She walked closer to him and let her fingers touch his elbow lightly, examining his face with those big golden eyes of hers. He was terrified. Instantly her heart reached out to the poor man and she wanted nothing more than to comfort him any way she could. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

*~*

Alex chuckled, following after Oriana easily through the pushing and constantly moving crowd of people that walked briskly along this main road. "You much know that I would never miss an opportunity to have some personal time with you my dear beauty." he said, easily catching up to the woman and walking slightly behind and next to her. "That and I would never dream of being parted with you for long. Why, even if I were at the end of the world I would turn about and follow the radiance of your being back to your side." It was an incredibly cheesy line, but his goal was to get in her head, not to necessarily impress her with his knack for grasping terrible pickup lines from thin air. It was all a process and a game of waiting, one that he fully intended to win.

*~*

Following his brother's lead, Ilario slung his arm around Ryleon's other shoulder and promptly began to steer him away from his sister and down the main road. "Yeah, you and Oriana are the only ones that know your way around this place. C'mon Ryleon, you could probably show us some places to hang." He grinned, patting the younger man on the chest. "Who knows? Maybe if you hang with us you can get your hands on your own babe too." He severely doubted that Ryleon by himself would be daring enough to go out and get his own woman, so of course it would be up to the twins to help him out… that, and it would be incredibly amusing to see him struggle when confronted by a real girl.

Demetri couldn’t help the involuntary twitch through his body when Rose touched his arm and he pulled back from her slightly to orient himself. “I’m fine. Crowds…just aren’t my thing.” He knew it was a huge understatement. This city was a landmine just waiting to be stepping on and Demetri was sure he would put his foot squarely on it if he stayed. He tried to calm himself visibly, putting his arms down at his side and nodded in the direction Oriana took off in. “Should we not follow her?” He asked, flicking a gaze from her to the mass amount of people flooding the street Oriana had gone down. He knew it would be like this in every part of the city and couldn’t help the dread that started to fill him.

~*~*~*~

“You really will never give up, will you?” Oriana tossed a look over her shoulder to him, but not in a mean way. He was persistent; she could easily give him that but a pervert and annoying as hell. Also full of himself and a jackass. Persistence could never outweigh all of that, she reasoned, pleased with her logic. She looked in the shops as she passed, seeing if there was anything they needed and stopped at a food stand, looking at the fresh fruit and meat products. A scowl came across her face when she looked at the prices scribbled on a piece of parchment tacked above the items. “So expensive.” She said to herself, moving on to the next stand. There was sure to be someone out there selling their product for a lower price.

~*~*~*~

“I don’t mind showing you guys around but…I don’t want a /babe/…” He said softly, and in a defeated tone. He knew that no matter what he said, his cousins were going to drag him along anyway. He knew he was going to get in trouble staying around these two and that was precisely the reason he wanted to go with his more responsible sister.

Tristan grinned at the poor man’s defeated tones but couldn’t help it. Ryleon needed some female experience that didn’t involve He-man personality packed girls. He loved Aunt Lena and his cousin Oriana but for god sakes neither of them acted like girls even ten percent of the time. They were always fighting, wearing boys clothes and always always always stomping around mad. It might not have helped that whenever the woman was around, Tristan and his brother would poke fun at Oriana just to get a rise out of her but…what fun would it be otherwise? “So what might your type be then, Ryleon? Tall, busty? Curvy? Plump? Perhaps the meek type? Or do you like ‘em like your old man? Short, thin, and with a manly personality?”

Ryleon felt his face getting red at the thought of categorizing his tastes in women. Truly, he just wanted a sweet woman at his side that wouldn’t mind not taking an adventure every time they stepped out their door, but he doubted the twins would accept his answer and kept quiet.

She should have expecting him to flinch away from her touch. He always did, having some deeply set innate fear of physical contact with another human being. But still, that didn't mean that it would sadden her any less than the first time. Hesitantly she withdrew her hand and let it fall by her side, feeling a touch defeated. "We probably should, yes." But… Even with his reassurance that he was fine, he still had that look on his face that clearly told he was most certainly not fine with the situation. She looked over her shoulder to where Oriana had disappeared to then back to Demetri and made her decision. "We can go back to camp if you'd like. If you don't mind me saying… this doesn't exactly look like your thing." She smiled gently at him and nodded toward the sky. She would miss not being able to see the city, but she didn't want to do it alone either and most certainly didn't want to drag Demetri around in his current fragile state of mind.

*~*

"Give up?" Alex asked, his voice pitched to suggest that he'd never heard those two words put together in a sentence in his life. "Of course I would never give up trying to earn the affection of a lady such as yourself." He managed to look very serious when delivering this particularly unbelievable piece of information, placing his hand over his heart and looking for all the world like a stricken poet. So stricken in fact that one of the ladies running a produce stand looked up from what she was doing to stare at him curiously. Alex grinned at Oriana, tapping her shoulder and gesturing toward the woman. "Perhaps I should attempt to prove to you my dedication?" With a wink he walked over to the stand and his play started.

The conversation started off innocently enough. Alex inquired after the woman's wares and after she was done telling him about the hardships of growing such produce so near the mountains when a sudden freeze could wipe out all of her stock, he promptly complemented her on her knowledge of common vegetables and her unwavering dedication to her trade in the face of such uncertainty. Then things just snowballed from there. He wove his own tale of being kidnapped and forced into hard labor for months, his voice fairly cracking with emotion at the recollection of the grizzly tale and by the end of it (in which he mentioned that he was trying to get home and was nearly penniless save for what the gorgeous woman that had saved him had on hand) he had the stand owner melting in the palm of his hand. She felt so sorry for him that she turned to Oriana and offered her a steep discount, blessing her for saving this pitiful yet handsome young man and pled that the two of them would have a safe journey.

*~*

"Mmm, I dunno if I'd wanna hang around his type of woman if it were the last kind." Ilario mused with a grin, his eyes always searching the streets for a target that they could go and scope out. "They sound like they'd only kill the mood. Let's see if we can't get him someone vivacious that takes control. I'll bet you'd like the kind of girl that prefers tops." Ryleon's silence was simply the open gate for letting the two make all the fun of him that they wished and they were never the types to turn down a perfectly good opportunity to have some sport at another's expense. Especially if it were Ryleon. The boy just needed some man training as far as he was concerned.

Their little game however was put to an abrupt end when someone ran straight into the three. For a few moments there was only confusion as the offender tried to disentangle herself from the group of men, muttering apologies as she did so. She was obviously an elf, the long pointy ears and fine ivory skin giving her away immediately. She was tall and thin but far from being curveless. Her face was decorated with some light makeup, deep purple eye shadow around bright forest green eyes that held a certain amount of mirth in them at all times. The woman's inky black hair was all twisted up around her head in delicate loops, exposing her long neck and well-formed rounded shoulders. She was wearing a deep forest green dress that revealed as much cleavage as was socially proper and the shape of her corset defined her narrow waist and flared hips. The skirt of the dress was ankle-length save in the front where it rose above her knees, revealing shapely legs beneath that were wrapped in sandals. "Oh my, I'm so terribly sorry sirs. I can be such a klutz sometimes."

Demetri looked Rose over for a long moment and felt bad that he would not be able to overcome his fear of mass public just yet. “We could fly over it for a bit.” He suggested knowing she probably did want to see the city but was just being nice at his obvious distress. Though if they flew over it, Demetri was confident he wouldn’t be as freaked out, knowing he could get himself to safety in the open skies swiftly if need be. This way Rose would be able to see the city, just not be down in the mess. He waited just a moment before opening his wings, and taking to the skies above Didienne. It was truly amazing to see the winding network of streets and people that seemed to work in harmony with one another. There were so many smells wafting up from the streets from vendors that had Demetri longing for the ability of courage to face it. They flew over and around the stone city for a while; it was a lot of land to cover before Demetri made his way back to their campsite. Once he landed, and waited for Rose to as well he found a comfortable sitting place and looked at her. “Are you sure this is fine?” It was a little late to be asking now, but they still had time if she wanted to get a ground view of it all.

~*~*~*~

Oriana gave him an incredulous look when he mentioned proving himself and she crossed her arms over her chest and waited to see what he was talking about. She couldn’t believe how tell he was able to tell his story to the stall keeper and felt a twinge of guilt at her steep offer once Alex was done performing. Though, they really needed the items and if they could save on food now all the better for later. She gathered some of the items at the cheapest price she had ever paid and thanked the woman over and over. She handed a bundle of food to Alex and began away with him. Once they were far enough away from the woman she looked Alex over. “Seems you can be useful.” She mentally scolded herself, knowing the small compliment would go to his already over sized head.

~*~*~*~*~

Tristan smiled, so happy to be enjoying the torment of his cousin. That was until someone had bumped so roughly into their group. Tristan finally got himself free from her and actually catch sight of her. She was beautiful in every way. Her fair features were accented by a cascade of silky black hair that made him want to run his fingers through it. When she spoke, he found himself wanting to listen to her voice. He wanted to pipe in first. “No need to apologize, to bump into such a beautiful woman is an honor.” He grinned, tipping his head slightly in a bow unable to help himself from drinking her form in.

Ryleon simply rolled his eyes at Tristan thinking that he was probably going to be as bad or worse as his father and his womanizing ways. Aunt Mai would sometime tell stories she had heard from the other village girls about her playboy husband. He didn’t understand how anyone could act so…He couldn’t even find a word for it.

Though her eyesight was far less than exemplary during the night, during the day however she could literally see for miles and take in details from the sky that any normal person would be envious of. Their fly-by of the city was enough for her to get a scope of the place, and she was absolutely thrilled to survey the twisting city streets and the beautiful tower that stood the center of it all, looking over the city like some ancient sentinel from an age long past. Though she could pick out individuals below walking along the streets, so much movement and such a bright assortment of colors made it hard to try and pick out either her brothers or cousin and unfortunately, she saw neither. A little reluctantly she followed Demetri out of the city, landing in the camp softly with a powerful backward sweep of her wings, kicking up a drift of snow as she landed.

Rose smiled at his question, crossing her arms and rubbing them slightly to get rid of the chill of the upper atmosphere that they had just left. It was a good thing that they were traveling South… she had just about enough of all this cold and frigid season. "Of course it is alright. I would never want to drag you through that city against your will, and I would hardly want to explore it alone. Who knows what might befall me if left alone to my own devices?" She smiled sweetly if a little timidly knowing that if she were left to wander the city by herself she would more than likely be waylaid by someone of a less than desirable character. "But, while we're out here, why not make the best of it? Would you like to go for a walk with me? I am afraid that I dislike standing about when it's so chilly… Perhaps I could get to know you a bit better. I'd wager that you know most things about me by now."

*~*

Alex adjusted the items in his own arms slightly to make them more manageable to carry. At Oriana's comment he only smiled, turning a far too innocent look to the woman at his side. "Of course I am useful fair lady. I would only ask that you should humbly use me in any way that you wish." Like most of his comments, his statement had a rather obvious second meaning to it, and just incase Oriana should miss the hint he winked at her in an overly suggestive fashion. He became serious quite quickly however, scratching the scraggly beard that he had developed over his months of captivity as if the facial hair suddenly bothered him. "But before you contemplate such a pleasurable activity, I would very much like to get out of this potato sack and into something a bit warmer. A haircut might be nice too. Very nice." He closed his eyes and sighed briefly, looking only slightly annoyed. "My captors were not large fans of personal hygiene, I'm afraid to say, and I had been suffering most terribly under their neglect." He held out his hand expectantly then, a slight pleading look on his face. "If you would be so kind…"

*~*

Ilario couldn't help but to grin at his brother's reaction and simply let him take the lead. The elf lady that stood in front of them was all eyes and grace and cut a very fine figure indeed. A worthy target, if he did could say so. Now if only there were two of them. Or three, really. It would have been exceedingly hilarious to trying and put Ryleon up to wooing such a woman. Little did he know that this particular woman would need no wooing on their part in order to simply fall into bed with the two. In fact, she had some plans of her own involving the young trio of men.

The woman curtsied, nodding in turn to Tristan's kind words. "I am very grateful for your understanding kind sir." She smiled, flashing brilliant white teeth at them in a sweet smile that usually had men falling in her hands like putty. Her eyes flashed once to the swords at their waists and her face suddenly lit up. "Oh my, you are warriors?" She asked, stepping toward Tristan reaching out and touching the hilt of his sword with delicate fingers, her other hand wandering lazily to his chest. Her sweet smile turned into one of a coy cat as she deliberately shared his breathing space, thrusting her exposed cleavage up and forward ever so slightly. "You seem very strong and noble good sirs. Perhaps… you could help out a damsel in distress..?"

Demetri would readily agree that left to her own devices trouble would probably follow. It just seemed like something the girl would do. Tilting his head at the suggestion of going on a walk to get to know one another, Demetri opened his mouth to disagree but remembered that it was his fault that Rose couldn’t see the inner city. He nodded gently, and began walking on a well worn path close to the edge of the woods. It just donned on him that he was alone with Rose and for some reason he felt rather awkward, so he kept his head down and his mouth close. What was he supposed to say…?

~*~*~*~

Oriana found herself rolling her eyes once more, knowing it was going to become a regular reflex around Alex. How could someone be so…..She wanted to throw her hands up in the air, unsure what word or gesture would even fit it to describe him. “Trust me, Alex; I have no need to touch /any/ part of you.” She said with a dry tone and looked at his opened, expecting hand. “I can’t very well have you smelling if you refuse to attach yourself to someone else…” She reluctantly handed him some coins, sad to part with the precious money. “If I happen not to be around once you are done, please find another woman to be creepy with.” She said a little hopefully, turning to head back down the street, looking to see if any other supplies jumped out at her. For some reason, she suddenly regretted giving him the money to make himself look pretty. It would only make him worse. Ugh.

~*~*~*~*~

Tristan smiled at the woman, “I could be your warrior any day, miss.” He smiled, enjoying the close contact with the woman. “What could we help you with?” He moved in closer not hiding his casual glances down to her chest.

“Solaria, what are you bothering these rather handsome men about?” Came a voice from behind the woman talking to Tristan. She looked completely different however. She had long, flowing blonde hair that reached just past her overly generous sized breasts made only larger by the low cut tight top she had on. She was a bit taller than the other woman and had a toned body, her outfit hugging close to her body; a diamond was cut out around her belly button giving a preview to her flat stomach. The bottom of her shorts came to mid-high thigh showing off a generous amount of her shapely legs all the way down to her sandals. Her deep purple eyes rested on Ilario for a long moment with a playful glint to them. She walked up, placing a hand on her narrow hip and smiled. “Who might you be playing with?” She said with a grin.

She had hoped that he would agree to take a walk, though admittedly she hadn't exactly left him much room to maneuver out of the situation. Rose was burning with curiosity about him after all. Not just because of the nearly unhealthy level of infatuation she had with the man, but also because of the fact that she simply liked to know. Reading books endlessly for days was not only a way to pass the time, but it was the only window she had ever had into the world beyond her mountain home. And though she was not adventurous, she still had that yearning to acquire knowledge and its inhabitants akin to the fervor that some adventures had for exploring the open road. But first, the easy questions that he should be able to readily answer. "What part of the island do you come from?" She asked, folding her hands neatly behind her back as she walked, keeping pace at Demetri's side.

*~*

Alex couldn't help the sigh that escaped him at the small amount of coins that she had lent him. He was going to have to charm his way into another discount at this rate. Bouncing the coins on his palm he considered his options briefly and surveyed himself. He really was a wreck, and many people eyes him suspiciously. They probably thought he was a beggar. In fact, he looked very much like one, though smelled terrible lots better than any homeless man he had ever had the misfortune to meet. Well… here went nothing.

*~¡!¡!¡~*

He had spent a fair amount of time liberating coinage from the wealthier people of the city, acting as helpless and charming as he could to weasel every last coin that he could manage. When he had enough to start bargaining with, he went and got the haircut, feeling tons better once the scratch beard was off his face and his hair was neatly trimmed back. Feeling refreshed with the lack of facial hair, he made a point to acquire a razor for future use so that the atrocious beard wouldn't be coming back any time soon. Next stop was the tailor, and after another heart-rending story about getting mugged and loosing nearly all of his money, Alex had a new coat, shirt, pants and shoes that would sufficiently keep him warm in these bleak winter climates. Not of the highest quality material, but for having a very meager budget it would have to do. Lastly would be getting himself a weapon.

Yes, though at the moment he was little more than a skinny young man that looked like he hadn't seen the sun in months, he had once had fair handle of a blade. The problem was that those were expensive, and the shop keepers that owned them were typically hard to swindle out of being paid for their hard-worked metal. Very unfortunate given the state of his funds, but if he could stretch them a bit farther perhaps he could get his hands on a decent weapon.

As predicted, the sword smith was unhappy with Alex's haggling, especially since he offered only the bare minimum until it got to the point where the hefty man would hear no more words coming out of his mouth. Slightly exasperated, Alex drummed his fingers on the counter, his mind working hard to try and resolve this situation. If he was going to be protecting himself from those ghost-metal warriors (and he had no doubt that they would run into the things again) then he was going to need to arm himself. "Fine then, let us settle this like men." He dropped his coin purse on the table, the smith now paying attention to him but still looking none the happier. "We can fight for the price. If you win, you'll have the pleasure of beating in my face. But if I should win, you'll take my offer on the sword and we'll be done with it."

For a long moment the smith contemplated the offer, examining Alex carefully. The lad was no warrior from what he could see. Not a single scar marred his handsome face and he had no muscle tone at all. In fact, he looked a little on the starved side. By comparison the smith was well fed and bulging with muscles from pounding on molten metal all day every day and was the type of man that spent his free time brawling in bars. "Yer on child." The man replied, pulling two fire pokers from the depths of his forge and throwing one to Alex. One good crack from the metal rod and the smith was certain that the young man would be down and out cold. With a grin he squared off against Alex. "I hope yeh got someone that'll look after yeh boy. 'Cuz after this you ain't gonna be able to walk."

Alex simply snorted and took an experimental swing with the fire poker. He was weak, that was true, and his reflexes weren't exactly the best after three months at sea cooped up in the holding deck of a ship. But still, he was sure that at the very least he could out-maneuver the big bumbling bloke and get him tired enough that he would make a mistake and allow Alex a winning strike. Just don't fall. He told himself mental. By now a small crowd had begun to gather, eager to see blood. Obviously it was a very mis-matched contest, many knew of the shattering punches that the smith could deliver during a drunken spat at the local pubs, and this young whelp was about to have his ass handed to him rather painfully.

With a roar that sounded more like a dragon than a man, the smith came at Alex full speed, swinging his poker like it was a broadsword and nearly clipped the small avian man. Alex got out of the way just in time and around to the side, nearly delivering a strike of his own but the Smith swung his poker around and had Alex leaping back to avoid being decapitated by the blunt weapon. The battle went on like that for a few minuets, the smith always lunging forward and nearly killing Alex with the heavy blows from his poker but never could quite catch the man. The crowd began to build as the fight drew on, the bystanders yelling, booing and generally making a ruckus that filled the whole street with their noise. Alex played it up then, making sure that the passes of the poker came ever closer to hitting him and drawing the crowd into a frenzy, calling for someone to hit somebody and just duke it out.

Eventually the smith had enough of Alex's dodging and paused, sweating and heaving as he looked at the young man with anger and annoyance. "You wanted a fight boy so fight me! Quit dancing around like a woman!"

Alex simply grinned and made a mocking half-bow sweeping his poker around. "Your wish is my desire." He replied and at the same time snapped up straight, the poker thrusting up and forward. He nearly got the smith in the chin, but the man had the presence of mind to step back. Alex came at him again from the side and the smith went to block but found that there was nothing there to defend against. He overbalanced then felt something jab him in the side very hard and whipped around to find Alex grinning at him, poker extended. "I believe that would be considered a killing blow."

For a moment there was silence, and then whistles and disbelieving groans from the crowd. The smith grumbled, looking like he wanted to have another go at Alex but conceded, collecting his fire poker. "Fine boy, yeh won your sword. Now take it and don't let me ever see your face again." Alex did just that, having no wish to anger the man further and simply took his sword, left the money, and got out of there. "Now, to find Oriana…"

*~*

"Oh! Isthena!" The first woman exclaimed, looking entirely too innocent at the appearance of the other woman to convince anyone that she hadn't fully expected her fellow elf to be right around the corner within calling distance. "These delightful young men are swordsmen. I think that they can help us out with our little problem." She looked at Isthena meaningfully, stepping even closer to Tristan than she had been before and casting her large eyes up at him, pulling her pouty face. "You see, there's this mean terrible, terrible man that thinks that he owns these streets. He has mobsters and everything and we would just be ever so grateful if you could take care of him for us." She gave Tristan a long-lingering wink, making sure that her dress slipped down in front ever so slightly just to make sure he understood what kind of thanking the two would be doing for the boy's services.

Whatever the conversation was, Ilario was completely lost to it. The appearance of this new woman, Isthena had not only confirmed his suspicions about this Solaria woman but had made him a very happy camper. Things were always awkward when there was only one girl that the twins could gang up on, so having two around was definitely a bonus. That, and this new woman simply just had a divine figure as far as he was concerned. What a beautiful rack… he wanted to touch it, honestly, but kept his hands in check. "Right, show us to this terrible man and we'll make sure he leaves you girls alone."

Demetri set a slow, yet comfortable pace as he folded his hands behind his head and released a calming breath. He watched the puff of air float in front of him and he too wished for a warmer climate. He was used to it after all, and when her question came about where he came from, he shrugged having thought it would be no harm to tell her. “Quinsilla.” He stated simple, figuring the woman would know the place. Who didn’t? Soon after he was born practically everyone that lived there was forced to live under the Surhina rule as a slave. After the war it took a long time to rid the influence and suppression of the Surhina, but by that point Demetri was under apprenticeship as a swordsmen. And then…He looked down, a pained expression on his face soon masked by anger.

~*~*~*~

Oriana had spent the rest of the day browsing the city and enjoying the time to herself. It was relaxing not to have Alex on her hip all the time trying to make some compliment or lewd comment. She was proud when she ended up looking at the bags of coins at her side still rather full despite all the things she was able to by. She turned her attention to a stand selling some blankets and touched the soft fabric gently.

As soon as she turned to leave the stand she caught a man grabbing a hold of the coin purses on her side and ripping from her hip. “Hey!” she yelled securing the items she was holding on her pack and started after the pickpocket. He was fast and nimble, weaving in and out of streets and crowds like an expert. Of course she would get pick pocketed! She flat out ran, trying to keep the man in sight. He wasn’t wearing anything distinguishing, just a greenish top and tan pants. He pretty much blended into the throngs of people seamlessly. Nonetheless, Oriana kept her eye on the back of his head, leaping over a cart with a half flap of her wing and continuing. More then once she bumped, hard, into someone and had to run even faster to catch the man.

Annoyed beyond belief, Oriana took to the skies and was more then pleased to see the man taking to the rooftops. All she would have to do was time her attack and she could beat the living day lights out of him until she got the money back and perhaps some extra. She saw no harm in stealing from a thief. Flying just above, she noticed the man had caught sight of her flying form and started running as fast as his two legs could carry him. Growling, Oriana made for her prey and oddly felt like a bird hunting down a mouse. As soon as he tried to clear a jump from a rooftop to another, Oriana swiftly dove down with full speed, wrapping her arms around his much larger waist and pushing her full weight into him until they both hit the ground.

Stars danced in her eyes, as the impact was rather rough but she was more then glad to use the man to break her fall. Little did she know she had landed not twenty feet from Alex, but it didn’t much matter seeing as how there was now a crowd forming around them. She heard him groan, mumbling ‘bitch’ and quickly sat up to straddle his hips. “You have nerve stealing from me buddy.” She growled, forming a fist and punching him squarely in the face once, twice and a third time until she felt the satisfying crunch of bone under her beatings.

She waited until she saw the blood trickling from his nose and no further movement from came from his now limp form. She heard the cheering from some of the women in the crowd but ignored them, searching all of the man’s pockets. To her satisfaction, she found all the money pouches he stole from her and two more hefty looking bags. “That should help, thank you kind sir.” She punched him once more for good measure and stood, wiping the blood from her hand.

~*~*~*~*~

Tristan was more than happy to share just close of breathing space with the woman dearly wanted to put a hand down on her chest, like his brother, but kept himself in check. He nodded happily when Ilario volunteered their services, catching notice of Solaria’s not so subtle hints at their prizes if they did what they asked.

Isthena on the other hand would not even try to be subtle about the rewards. “I’m so glad to hear that.” He walked up the Ilario, pressing her soft lips against his own in a rough kiss. She pulled back and put her lips to his ear. “There will be plenty more of this if you really can help us.” She offered licking his ear ever so slightly and then pulling back. She glanced to Ryleon and cocked her head. “Would the good sir like us to provide company for the younger man?” She looked to Ilario after Ryleon bowed his head, the color on his face cherry red.

"Oh my…" Rose whispered when she heard that Demetri had come from the little town near the Southern coast. His life certainly had been full of tragedy, hadn't it? Although the first part he was perhaps too young to remember much by what his parent may have told him. She hadn't even been born until much later of course, and Turich had been more or less unaffected by the war being so removed from the rest of the Island. The emotions that crossed his face caught her eye and she let a silent moment go by, half expecting him to reveal more of his past with such a look on his face. When he volunteered no more information however, she decided that it was time to pry a little deeper. "What was it like? Living there, I mean. I've only read bits about Quinsilla, and none of the books ever tell you how people manage to live under such horrible conditions… It had to have been hard."

*~*

Though he thought that it would have been very hard to find Oriana in this mess of people, Alex was very happily mistaken about his assumption. No sooner had he attached his sword to his hip than he saw something diving out of the sky not very far from him at all. At first he thought it may have been a hawk, but it was far too large and then he was worried that it might be a dragon attacking some innocent civilian. That fear was quickly put to rest when he recognized the diving figure as Oriana, and he promptly ran to where he assumed she had landed, expecting to see her very dead and squished on the pavement. Instead he stumbled upon the young woman mercilessly wailing on some poorly dressed man, bloodying her knuckles as she smashed the poor soul's face in. For whatever reason, instead of feeling sorry for the poor fellow he was strangely turned on by the display of brute force on Oriana's part. He had never seen a woman become so violent or with such efficiency before, and the sight had him rooted to the spot.

When she had finally had her fill of punching his face, he was among those that clapped for the performance and strode forward out of the small crowd that had gathered and approached her. "Bravo fair woman, bravo. I can only assume that the fellow deserved any sort of abuse given at your wonderful hands." He was within a few feet of her now and smiled charmingly. "It seems that fate has conspired to bring us together again once more, no?"

*~*

Ilario was liking this woman the more time that the two were together. he was a little surprised at how forward she was, but was certainly not against it, rather enjoying the brush of her breasts against his chest when she had pulled him over to kiss him. He needed no more convincing to go and grab whoever it was that was bothering these women, especially if the reward for doing so was going to be as eventful as Isthena was making it out to be. When they mentioned taking care of Ryleon, Ilario could only grin, imagining what the combined forces of these two women could do to their poor virgin innocent cousin. "Yeah, make sure that he doesn't run away. And be gentle-" he patted Ryleon on the shoulder, looking too innocent for the younger boy's own good. "-he's a little sensitive." Patting Ryleon's chest, he chuckled to himself and put a hand on his sword. "So where do we go?"

Solaria smiled widely, clapping her delicate hands together once. "Delightful!" She piped up and pointed down the road in the direction that they had been heading in anyway. "He lives in the most nasty piece of town, though he's fabulously wealth in great part thanks to our hard and tireless work. If you follow the main road-" She gave the the instructions to the man's house and described in great detail the actual place, letting them know that there was no way that they could possibly miss it if they followed her directions as she had given them. Once the information had been imparted, she walked to Ryleon's side and took his arm, making sure to squeeze her breasts against him. "Come back soon, you hear?"

Demetri shrugged, looking to the sky for some comfort against the rising emotions that warred within him. “I can’t remember much before I went into my apprenticeship for swordsmanship.” The angry look that was once there returned to his face but this time instead of holding his tongue, he wanted to express his anger towards the long ago memory. “My master: He betrayed me.” He said bitterly, somewhat regretting his decision to tell her but couldn’t contain his anger.

~*~*~*~

Oriana, more than pleased with how to was able to get back the stolen money had a bright smile on her face when she turned to the familiar voice behind her. Her smile disappeared slightly and turned slightly into a confused look. “Alex?” She didn’t recognize the man without the long hair, beard and potato sack clothing. This man standing in front of her however was handsome without a doubt, still lacking defining muscles but it was enough to put a dust of pinkish color on her face. She shook the thoughts away quickly, resuming the normal dry look on her face she was accustom to giving him.

~*~*~*~

Ryleon, the poor boy, just couldn’t stop blushing and a shiver went through his spine as she pushed against him. He could only nod, thinking to be polite and quickly followed after his cousins. As much as he wished to be angry, he was just far too embarrassed.

“Be sure to find us for your reward.” Isthena purred at Ilario, happy to hear there was someone to take on their terrible boss. She knew they were new to the city or terrible stupid to take on such a powerful boss but she couldn’t help but wish them luck.

It wasn’t hard to find the district the girls were talking about and soon enough found a building with several men standing guard at the lavish looking gates. There was no doubt that the inside would be as overly decorated and gaudy as the gate looked. It was covered in gems, no doubt either stolen or fake. Tristan looked at the gate with a frown of disapproval and looked to his twin. “Hmm…storm the front door?” He asked, not even bothering to ask Ryleon.

Rose listened silently and patiently, wanting to hear him talk and open up even just a little bit. The angry admission that he had been betrayed didn't necessarily shock her, nor did it evoke feelings of pity. She simply felt very sad for him and wanted very much to make that anger and pain go away. If only she could heal wounds of the soul, as well. "What do you mean? How did he betray you?" They were making progress, if only a little bit at a time, and she wanted to press this small advantage while she had it.

*~*

Her smile really was charming, he had to admit. Though it disappeared as soon as she recognized him, that fleeting glimpse of her happy face was enough to renew his resolve to try and woo the stubborn woman into submission. He spread his hands almost like he was waiting for a hug and decided that her blushing face was cute too. If only he could make her do it more often… "Of course, fair lady. I thank you greatly for the coins you gave me, although… I do believe that you're enjoying the change nearly as much as I am." This statement was accompanied by a suggestively raised brow of course as he surveyed Oriana. How a woman could be so tough he wasn't entirely sure, but cracking through that shell was something he was determined to do.

*~*

Ilario considered the house for a few moments, drumming his fingers against the hilt of his sword. "Yeah, storm the front. Who knows how many of these gangsters there are inside. We should probably take them out here where we've got the advantage." Grinning boyishly, Ilario unsheathed his sword, looked to the other two briefly. "I'll head in first. Make sure that you've got my back." With a wink and a flap of his wings, he was rushing at the nearest guard patrolling the ridiculous gates and with a swift swing of the sword had the man on his knees screaming in pain. The annoying noise was silenced quickly by a stab through the top of his head, but by that time the others there had been alerted and were now on guard.

Through the combined work of the three they had the gate guards out of commission in no time and simply hopped over the gate with the use of their wings. Predictably, reinforcements flooded out from inside, several more men joining the fray, all seven of them going down under the expertly trained boys, which left the house wide open to invasion. Without remorse or regard for how expensive the door was, Ilario simply kicked it open, ripping the knob straight out of the door when he did so and let himself inside the foyer. "Hello? Anyone in here?" He called into the massive room, slightly disgusted with all of the fake gold all over the entrance hall. Really? This guy must really like his riches.

Demetri watched Rose, unsure if he should tell her knowing what happened would eventually reach her and the group and it would be only worse if it was a surprise. He stopped walking, looking down at the ground, the pain of the memories ever present on his face. How could he even tell her…He balled his fists and decided to just tell her, “Those…things that took your parents…two years ago my so called master sold me off to be captured by them…” He took a moment to compose himself, banging a fist on a near by tree. “I…” Now his voice quivered with emotion, this was just too hard. “They held me captive for two years.” He couldn’t look at her, it was evidence he knew about the floating creatures, but to relive the memories again was even worse.

~*~*~*~

Oriana sighed; yeah this was him for sure. “You surprised me is all.” She said, moving to make her way back to camp. “Didn’t find any other pretty ladies to woo?” She asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Damn him and his good looks, she thought to herself, keeping her eyes back on the road in front of her.

~*~*~*~

Tristan let his sword hang at his side, the blood of the men they had killed dripped from the tip of the blade and formed a small puddle on the floor beneath him. “This place is…disgusting…” He said, looking around at all the jewels. “And…purple.” One would have to be blind not to notice all the purple on the walls, floors, and banners and the gold that hung from every inch of the place. “Hey, Ilario, lets take some of this once we kill this bastard. We need some spending money still.” He grinned, liking the thought of out besting Oriana.

Ryleon hated fighting so he let the twins take up most of the battle while keeping guard at their backs. He didn’t understand why they would go through all of this for the women they had hardly met but…he wasn’t going to question it. As soon as they got back to those women he was cutting it out back to the camp.

At first, Rose could hardly believe her ears. She had always thought that Demetri must have been the victim of some terrible prison or other unsavory place but… to actually have been captured by those creature…? And then all of the pieces suddenly fell together and she gasped audibly, covering her mouth with her hands, eyes filling instantly with tears. They had probably followed him, those things. When he had been feeling from whatever hell they had been torturing him in for two years… they had probably picked up his trail and followed him all the way to their quiet mountain home in Turich. Those things weren't looking for her family, they had been looking for him!

A sob welled up from deep within her that she simply couldn't contain. The tears that had been forming spilled from her eyes and she stepped back. It was all his fault. All of this could have been avoided… How stupid had she been? How foolishly childish to trust someone they didn't know, to become so enthralled with him that she had been blind. Her father had been right, he was bad news. Rose turned to leave, her fists clenched and had the full intention of taking flight and heading back to town, damn the consequences! But something stopped her. She looked over her shoulder and through the tears saw the look of agony on his face. That same look that he had on his face when they first found him, batted down by that dragon…

Rose had a hold of herself again, though she didn't bother to do more than wipe away her tears with an angry fist. Of course he hadn't lead them to her home on purpose, that was probably an impossibility given how remote their home was. Could she really blame him for trying to save himself by fleeing from a place? Anyone that could inflict such wounds on another person… She shivered to even think of what had gone on in that place. Taking a deep breath, Rose let the cool mountain air permeate her being, calming her and setting her head straight. She walked to Demetri's side and very slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice cracking with fresh tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "I couldn't even imagine what that was like… And you did it all by yourself. I-" she was silent for a moment, composing her thoughts and then pulled back, taking his larger hand in her two smaller ones and turning it palm up. "I don't have any songs that can take away your hurt, Demetri. Nothing can sting as bad as when a loved on betrays your trust so completely… but if you'd like, I can try and think up a song that will heal your outer scars. I… I think that's within my abilities."

*~*

Alex took up the pace at Oriana's side easily, his much longer stride making it simple work to keep up despite her determination to shake him off. To her comment he simply smiled. "No other lady in all the land could sway me from your side, Oriana." Well, if he had been looking for someone else she probably could have found someone more beautiful to chase, and with his own dashing good looks he could have probably had said woman in hand by nightfall. But, this wasn't about looking for the finest trophy dame, it was about attempting to conquer a seemingly unbendable woman of character, and finding out that she could hardly look at him straight was certainly a good thing. Getting into her head was working so far.

*~*

Ilario simply nodded to Tristan's plan that they should snag some of the gems before the left, thinking it an excellent idea. Oriana had all of their money after all, and if they didn't want to be spending their quality time with their two new lady friends in a back alleyway somewhere, then they would need the money for a room. A couple of rooms. In a really nice inn. Hell, with all of the ridiculous displays of wealth, they could probably just buy an inn for themselves. "Oi! We're not getting any younger here!" He called into the depths of the house. This time however his call didn't go unanswered.

Someone came out of one of the many rooms that lined the long hallway, and by his state of dress, Ilario could correctly assume that he was the master of this house. The man was dressed in a plush fur outfit decorated at the hems with golden rings. His ears were also covered in the gold and jewel studded rings of metal, his dark mocha colored skin greatly offset by the royal purple robe he wore underneath he fur atrocity he had on. The man drew a sword that was probably made almost entirely out of gold, or at least plated with the stuff and stood at the top of his grand staircase. "Congratulations hooligans. You have defeated my minions. Nothing that money can't replace. But if you think that I will be such an easy target, you are sadly mistaken! Draw! And face me!"

For a moment, Ilario was caught off guard by the man's appearance and subsequent speech, then he laughed. Hard. "Tristan!" He snorted, trying to get a hold of himself. "You think this guy is worthy of being fought with hand to hand?" He managed to get out between giggles. Finally, he managed to get himself to a more manageable level of glee and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I say we torch him."