Two bachelors and a girl- Tajy, Eldar, and Tegan

Last edited by Taj on Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:36 pm; edited 1 time in total

This takes place in a small village that is very rich and doing well, but when one day a traveler appears and asks for help and to stay, she is turned away. The traveler tells the people that they will be cursed to fall to ruin within the week's end, but they pay no mind. Now that the week is almost over the town/village has all but fallen off the map and the villagers are slowly falling under misfortune after misfortune. Travelers hardly stray these parts anymore, but it is said lately a treasure lies around, so more and more people have shown up looking for the riches said to be more than a common man could ever need. Only, now the people's curse seems to have fallen on them as well.

Time of year: Late summer/early fall

((So, we can expand on this later. Haha. Sorry.))

~*~*~*~*~*~PART TWO~*~*~*~*~*~*

~*~

Our two travelers have now made their way to Tarz, after the mysterious burning of Rasera's home and the storm that led Mask and her to their current location. They travel in hopes of finding Mask's sister, but will things really stay that way? What will they find in their travels? Who knows?

Time of year and day: Late summer/ early fall. It is currently nighttime.

Posting order:
Taj
Eldar
Tegan

The news seemed to jump around a lot these last few days. Mask had gotten report after report of people who looked like her that had been around. Every lead left him no where closer to her than he had been. A sigh escaped him and he let himself look down at the piece of painting of them he kept with him. His mind jumped back to the day when they had been playing in the field. It was full of flowers everywhere. Before everything had happened to them, before life had turned so bad. Before their father had died. Mask shut his eyes. He could almost feel the bright sunlight that had been on his face that day. The sound of his sister’s laughter was almost audible.

“Akar! Wait up! I made you something!”

The little boy turned, his long silvery black hair was down in his light grey eyes. A little girl with light blond hair was rushing towards him, a circle of weaved white flowers in her hands, her light blue eyes full of delight at her present. She almost tripped, and Akar took a few steps forwards and caught her, hugging her tightly. “What do you have there Vespira?” he asked with a smile. The little girl, Vespira pulled away and held up the circle of flowers in her hands, reaching up and setting them on her head. She looked so delighted at her gift as she hugged her brother. “You like it right? Mom said you would like it, so do you like it? I worked really hard on it.” Akar nodded hugging her back. “Of course I don’t like it.” She looked up at him shocked, but before she could say anything with her little hurt eyes, he went on. “I love it,” he said pulling her close again and laughing. Their mother appeared then, walking over. She watched them for a moment, taking a picture in her head. It was a couple days later when that moment in paints appeared in the house.

Mask opened his eyes and picked himself off the ground. Sorrahkin was sitting a few yards away nibbling some grass. “You ready to go?” he asked as the stallion looked over at him, chewing what was left in his mouth. The horse snorted, and Mask walked over to it, pulling himself up into the saddle and picking up the reins. He pressed his legs to the stallion’s side gently and they walked forwards. With his bow on his back, and his sword at his side, Mask was ready for anything that the people he sought would throw at him. He would give up at nothing to find the slum that took his sister from him, and murdered his mother. He wouldn’t stop until their blood was draining from their bodies all over the ground. His destination, a town that had all but fallen off the map. He figured it was a good place to look for people who didn’t want to be found. So, that was where he and Sorrahkin were headed. He was aware of the rumors that surrounded this town, but didn’t that make it more interesting?

It wasn’t long until Mask could see the houses and the buildings. The place looked run down. It looked like the perfect place. Sorrahkin slowed his pace a little, the black stallion looked unnerved, and skittish. “What’s wrong boy? Afraid of the unknown and unseen? You’re normally wheeling to get into anything. What about this town scares you?” Mask patted the horse’s neck and the stallion relaxed a bit under its master’s touch. They pressed forwards, until Sorrahkin came to a complete stop in front of the town. He tossed his head annoyed and took a few steps back. “Alright, alright,” Mask said dismounting the stallion and putting his half mask on, then pulling the bottom part up off his neck. He pulled his hood over his slivery black hair, and putting on hand on his sword, he walked into the town. The people giving him weird looks, and most turning and shying away from his approach, keeping away from him.

Rasera shifted uncomfortably in her saddle. This town made her feel rather uncomfortable and it was only confirmed as her horses ears flattened onto the back of its head and refused to take on step into that town itself. Rasera sighed and dismounted, and patted the beats neck. "I suppose I will go on without you, my friend. Thank you for taking me this far." She smiled, and patted the horse once more before stepping into the town.

A sudden nervousness came over Rasera as she continued to walk through the dying town. She noted for one, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Many of the people were dirty, and dressed in plain clothing that seemed to be as dirty as they appeared to be. Rasera on the other hand had rather well kept clothing, dark brown boots came up to her knees which was then met by a heavy white skirt. Her shirt was a simple peasant top with a soft, dark brown leather corset around her petite waist and a simple sword sat on her hip for protection. It wasn't as if the girl really knew the weapon that well but she figured it would be better to have something sharp and pointy if someone attacked her than nothing. Her golden locks of hair cascaded down her back and only a simple tie on the top of her head kept the mass of hair in check from falling into her face which gave way to her light blue eyes.

The only reason she would press forward into this town today would be for her fathers sake. He had fallen ill for a rare sickness that was relevantly new, something called consumption. He had been terribly weakened over the summer and continued to cough blood. The doctor told her a rare herb used to be sold in this town, back when it was rich and prosperous, that could help him at least relieve the pain of the illness. He might not have been her birth father, but he had raised her for a long as she could remember and she wanted to do all she could to aid him if possible.

Rasera drew her dark brown cloak around her small form even tighter as if to keep peering eyes away from her. She wanted to conduct her business and leave as soon as possible. As if fate wanted to laugh at her attempts of blending in, Rasera bumped into a very soild form as she was darting across the street. The force nearly knocked her over but someone grabbed her small wrist in an iron grip.

"Why, why lookie' 'ere. A little mouse has lost its way. Perhaps I can help you darling." The large man didn't look like someone to mess with. His arms and legs looked as if they were tree stumps and his body was a mass block of solid muscles. He had a five o'clock shadow on his chin and his lips curled into a devilish smirk as he looked the girl over.

"Please! Let me go sir, I have very important business to attend to!" She struggled against his grip, hoping that the on lookers would protest to his rough handling. But the people that weren't looking on with smug grins, were averting their eyes or turning back into their shops or homes.

"It's been ever so long since I've had the company of such a beautiful lady..." He said, running his other hand through her blonde locks. He ignored her protests as he lowered his head to her own and inhaled her sweet scent. Rasera began to panic as he got closer, he was absolutely too strong for her, and her heart thudded in her ears. Was this it?

Mask sighed as he looked around one of the shops. The keeper was giving him a hopeful look and had pleading eyes on him. She was really hoping he would buy something. When Mask didn’t see anything he wanted though, he set the random knick-knack down and turned away from the lady. There was a soft sigh from the lady, and when Mask turned to glance back, he could see she was holding back tears as she slowly started to turn away. With a sigh to himself, Mask reached into a cloak pocket and pulled out a small pouch of gold. “Here,” he said gruffly, tossing her the pouch. She caught it and opened it. When she finished looking inside, she looked back up at him with wide eyes.

“Thank you sir! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, seeming like she was going to hug him.

Mask chuckled slightly. “You’re welcome. Have a good day, and don’t spend it all in one place. I don’t like seeing a lady cry.” With that, he turned and headed back out into the streets. He started walking again, pulling his cloak around him tightly. Then he saw it. Mask stopped dead, had he really just seen that? He looked in the direction he had seen the blond haired girl. Was he seeing things? Could he be losing his mind? His mind was racing, but he had to know if he’d really just seen that. He hadn’t seen her face, sure, but the long blond hair, the petite figure. There was a small burning hope. Could she really be here? Was Vespira so close? Why hadn’t she come looking for him? He shook his head to clear it as he walked.

When he reached a small crowd though, he pushed through them. And a snarl spread over his masked mouth. The girl he had seen, the one who he was sure was his sister was being assaulted by a man who looked as dirty as he acted. Mask did a quick glance around. People were seeing this, that was obvious, and yet, no one is doing anything. Mask couldn’t believe it! No way was he letting anyone harm his sister, she had to be his sister, she looked exactly like her. There was no way she couldn’t be his sister.

“Hey asshole,” Mask said gruffly, pulling his bow off his back and knocking an arrow. He held the bow pointed down at the ground, but he was staring at the man, even if he couldn’t see his eyes. “I’d let the girl go if you don’t want to end up with an arrow between your eyes. You have 5 seconds, and I’m counting. Of course… I’m not so good with numbers…” Mask grinned behind his mask, and even thought the grin wasn’t seen, normally his appearance was daunting enough. The wind picked up slightly, and his cloak blew away from his body, exposing his arrow and sword at his side. His masked face was seen clearly as his hood blew back just slightly, without exposing his silvery black hair.

“I’d act quickly, you’re running short on time.”

The man holding Rasera has just began to kiss upon her neck when a strange man demanded to release his catch. "Oi! What are you on about?" He asked gruffly, lifting his head only slightly to see who was disturbing him. At the sight of Mask the man stiffened and leveled a gaze at him. He was shocked to see a masked man and even more when the wind blew to revel the weapons he was carrying. Taking a look at the crowd around him he grumbled and let Rasera go with a hard shove in the direction of Mask. "Fine." He said curtly and disappeared into the shop behind him.

The crowd that was around the shop groaned in displeasure that their show was over so fast and quickly scattered back to their daily jobs and tasks in order to keep dinner on the table. No sense in standing around if the big guy wasn't even going to put up a fight against this new masked guy.

Rasera stumbled towards Mask and the regained her composer. She rubbed at her wrists and then looked up at the masked man. She took a long look at him before speaking. "Thank you..." Her blue eyes scanned over him and the few tears that had formed in her eyes disappeared as a smile was drawn on her face. "May I know the name of my rescuer?" She asked softly.

Mask watched the man with a small smirk on his face at the man’s look of shook at his appearance; it was pretty funny when he appeared to the people like this. Their reactions were normally a range, but mostly fear. However, he was glad when the man had released his sister. He didn’t really want to cause any trouble. That was not why he was here, and from the looks of it, the men who had taken his sister were not here either. Mask may have been young, but he was not so young as to remember them clearly. The image of their evil wicked faces burned into his head. Mask found he had to force himself to keep the memory of that night out of his head. To keep it as far away as possible. There were parts he would remember. The men’s faces, the dark night, the stormy sky. He would remember that all, but the rest… His mother dead, lying in her own pool of blood, how helpless he was to defend his sister from the men. Her calling his name as they took her, and finally how alone he had felt when he had woken up the next day.

When the man pushed his sister towards him, Mask took a step forwards, but when she regained her balance, he relaxed. He let his arm relax, putting the arrow back in his quiver and setting the bow back on his back. He looked her over when she turned to look at him. She had the blue eyes that his sister did, she had the long blond hair, and her smile was just as warm, but there was a part of Mask that knew she wasn’t who he was looking for. He ignored it though. He ignored the nagging voice that told him otherwise. How could he argue with what was in front of his face?

She spoke and Mask pushed his hood back, revealing his light silvery black hair. Then he took the top part of his mask off, showing his light grey eyes, and then finally, pulled the bottom part back down around his neck, a smile on his face as he did so. Her voice was different, but then wouldn’t that come with age anyways? In the back of his mind, the voice screamed at him that he was stupid to think it was her, but still, he was too stubborn, this HAS to be her. There was no way it couldn’t be his sister. Vespira was right here, safe, at last.

“You’re welcome. You should be more careful around here,” he glanced at the sword at her side. “They seem like the kind of folks who would rather be theifs than to show kindness…” His voice was brotherly, which wasn’t wrong to him. She was his sister after all. She asked his name, strange, he thought, but it had been so long… “Akar Ganlit, M’lady,” he said as his smile widened. She would know who he was. And then he could prove to the voice in his head that it was her, that its protests were wrong, but he’d play along for a little bit. So, stifling a laugh, he asked in return, “And yours would be?” Like he didn’t already know the answer? "What are you doing here anyways?" he ask curiously.

Rasera continued to smile warmly at the man. He was being rather kind with her in almost a familiar way that she didn't quiet understand but she ignored it, taking it for kindness. As he spoke his name, her smile remained but no recognition came to her face. No knowing of the name he just spoke. "Akar, a pleasure to meet you." In fact, he was gorgeous under his mask and she didn't know why he would cover himself like so. Perhaps he was hiding from someone. Wouldn't make sense for him to draw attention to himself just to save her if he did.

"My name is Rasera Coltern." When he asked what it was she was doing here, she frowned, looking down. "My father is very sick, and I was told a long time ago there was a very rare herb that made market here around this time of year." She looked back up to him with a sad smile on her face. "It may be a bit of a stretch to say it's still here now, but I can't give up, ya know?" Rasera put a hand to her mouth and looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, that is a bit odd to be telling all of this to a stranger, isn't it?"

Rasera did have to try. When she left her father he had collapsed in their home, coughing up large amounts of blood. It had only gotten worse over the summer as he tried to work to provide for her. He always spoke of how she was more of a daughter than he could ever hope for. He had never married and the one time it came close she had left him for a richer man. The world was cruel but her father held no bitterness in him. He was a good man, and Rasera planned to do all in her power to help him.

Mask watched the girl, and confusion slid into his features when his name meant nothing to her. Did she not remember him? Not remember her own brother? The words of his sister rang through his mind as he watched the girl he just saved. That night, when the men had taken her away, when they had knocked him out, he remembered every terrified word of his sister before the blackness had swallowed his consciousness. They made their way form the back of his mind, repeating to him now. “AKAR! BROTHER NO! DON’T HURT HIM! AKAR HELP ME! DON’T LET THEM HURT ME, DON’T LET THEM TAKE ME! BROTHER PLEASE! HELP ME!” Mask’s fists clench as he shut his eyes, forcing the memory back. He took a breath, the smile on his face fell when she spoke her own name.

He listened though as she went on to speak of her father. A sadness in Mask’s own eyes as he hear her tale. And although it could be mistaken for pity for her, he knew alone it was for his own stupidity. He had been so sure this, Rasera was his sister. He swallowed hard and sighed. When she finished and gave him an embarrassed look, Mask gave a half smile of reassurance. He supposed he should explain himself as well. IT was only polite. He truly did understand how she felt. Better than anyone perhaps. Perhaps more than even she understood herself, for she had not lost her father yet.

“It’s fine,” he said relaxing and putting the top half of his mask into his cloak pocket. “I’m looking for something too, well, someone.” He paused for a moment, testing his words in his head before he spoke them. Perhaps it would be better to lie if not a little bit. “Actually, you look a lot like her,” he smiled more, hiding the sadness he felt for knowing that the girl who stood in front of him was not Vespira. He let his words sit there, without going on. He was thinking before after a few moments he decided to ask her something. “I’m not very good with herbs, and I wouldn’t know where to start, but I can get information out of people, and if you’d like it, would you like any help in trying to find this herb? Hope is something that should never be lost after all.”

Rasera smile returned at his kind offer, he looked like someone that could really take care of himself and would easily be able to help if it the time came to it again. “I would greatly appreciate that…The herb I am looking for is called Calcynthern. Perhaps, if not along the way, I can help you as well…” He looked so sad when he spoke of this person he needed to find. Even behind the smile he gave her, it never really reached his eyes. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen someone like myself before to such an extent and I don’t know how much use I could be…but company is always nice when you are on a quest, don’t you agree?” She smiled brightly at him and clasped her hands in front of her.

Even if Rasera might not have the time to be on a quest, she didn’t have much choice if the herb she was looking for was not on this town. Her father wouldn’t make it past winter, the doctor had told her. He pleaded she stay in the village to keep from dangers, but what was she supposed to do? Staying in the home did nothing, made her feel even more useless to aid him. But…If she were at least looking for the medicine, at least she was doing something about it.

Walking a bit away from the shop of her attacker she looked at Akar. “This might be a bit forward of me to ask, but might I know who it is you are looking for?” Akar told her he knew nothing of herbs, so telling him much of the details would be pointless, but when looking for a person it is always good to know the facts to ask people as they went. All she knew was that apparently she had a striking resemblance to the girl.

Mask nodded, listening hard. He wanted to make sure he would be able to remember this, and he already had a few ideas in order to figure out if this village had the herb or not. Actually, if he ran into anymore dicks like the man who had tried to harm Rasera, he was looking forwards to having to ‘convince’ them to help her out and offer a bit of information that they had. Still, this was going to be tricky, that was for sure. These peoples obviously wanted nothing to do with any strangers in their town. Then she went off of the topic of the herb and onto what he said. He swallowed hard as she offered to help him.

No one actually cared enough to talk to Mask. He wasn’t used to even talking like this. Sure, he was used to showing ladies a good time, he was used to it because he wanted to make up to them what he couldn’t do to help his sister. But for one to actually care enough to even ask his name was more than he was used to. Mask actually smiled as he nodded. “Company on a quest is always nice, but I’m not sure we’ll find her here.” Of course she went on to ask who he was looking for exactly. He walked with her as she moved away from the shops thinking that over for a moment. It wouldn’t be bad to tell her; after all, he owed her the answer after what she’d told him about her father. Still, he almost wanted to tell someone else anyways.

“The girl I’m looking for is my sister, Vespira. She was taken from our home when we were both younger.” He reached into his cloak and pulled out the small ripped off piece of the painting that had been in his home, and offered it to her. “This is her and I a couple weeks before she was taken. Our mother painted this and kept it in the house. She used to love to paint.” This tie, Mask refused to let the memories come into his head. He kept them to the back of his mind this time. He needed to control them, or at least, not let them control him. “Anyways, find her here or not, thank you for helping me.”

As they walked, the sky seemed to get darker, and the people seemed to pick up the pace of what they were doing. The kids seemed to disappear off the streets, and the people seemed more interested in being inside their shops than being outside trying to bring in new business.

Rasera listened intently as he told her that it was his sister he was looking for and how the two were separated when they were young. That must have been terrible, and a terrifying experience, being younger and losing a sibling. Rasera took the small, ripped part of painting and was actually stunned to see the girl she was looking at. She could have sworn she was looking at herself. "I can see where you had mistaken me for her...I'm so sorry.." She looked at the painting for a moment more before handing it back to him. She started to wonder if it would be hard to travel with someone who looked so much like his sister.

Rasera shifted uncomfortably as she noted the streets were beginning to empty. It wasn't a good sign if the people were starting to clear the streets and it was making her nervous. She saw a shop still open and touched Mask's arm gently to make him aware she was heading over to it.

The shop itself was dirty, dingy and looked like it was filled with odds and ends, many of them appeared to be broken. There was a man sitting in the back of the room, coughing. His cough was deep, and unrelenting it seemed. When it finally let, the man took notice of Rasera and quickly made his way over to her. She took quick notice there was blood on his shirt.

"Ooh, little lady-" He stopped to cough some more into his handkerchief and then continued, "Is there something that has caught your interest?" He asked, snaking his frail and pale arm around her shoulders. "We have many things." He coughed once more before he noticed Mask. He pushed Rasera away in a hurry from him and scurried back into the shop.

"Wait! I need to ask you something!" Rasera called out, squinting to try to see into the dark shop.

"We want nothing to do with you. Go aways." He hissed, stiffing his coughing. Rasera looked helplessly to Akar, rubbing her arm as she did so. Something was wrong with him...

Mask took the picture back and sighed slightly as he put the piece of painting back away into his cloak. At least she took the news ok, yet still, what reason had she for apologizing? It wasn’t her fault that any of this had happened to him. He walked closer to her, almost trying to comfort her by just standing close. He was careful of his actions, careful not to give her reason to fear him. That was not the goal in mind. Tonight he was simply here to help. His quest would have to be put on the side, for now. “It’s not your fault, so no need to be sorry,” he spoke softly, “I’ll find her one day, and when I do, I’ll make the men pay for what they did to my family. But enough of that talk, we have a herb to find, right?” The question was more rhetorical in purpose, which is suited to be in the end as well.

Mask looked around as the people began to pack up. That was strange. He glanced up at the darkening sky. It had seemed so warm and quiet out earlier, was rain on the way? That option also seemed odd, but perhaps… He glanced back down at Rasera when he felt her touch softly on his arm. He took then looked over at the shop before following her towards the dingy little place. Funny, it seemed so much more dirty and unkempt than the one he had offered the lady money in earlier. Too bad he hadn’t seen any plants in there; it was so much friendlier looking than this one.

Mask kept around the edges of the shop, glancing between the wares as he walked around. He listened quietly to the man speak to Rasera, then finally as he finished looking around the outsides of the shop, he walked over to stand by her back. Of course, it seemed that as the man noticed him, he longer anted anything to do with either of them. Curiosity and distrust crossed Mask’s face as the man hurried away. Did he know something that he was unwilling to have spilled out of him? He glanced down to look at Rasera, to find her looking up at him. He frown slightly, then with one hand down on his sword hilt, he walked forwards towards where the man disappeared.

“I do believe sir, that the lady wants to ask you something. Doesn’t seem very kind to leave her without answers, wouldn’t you agree.” He glanced back at Rasera to see if she’d follow him or not. “We mean no harm, sir. We simply are trying to find something that used to be here. If you can help us, I can pay you something in return for any help you can offer.” He walked more into the blackness, glancing around carefully, on his guard for anything. Why had the man run?

The room was crowded with stuff, wall to wall packed with random junk that the man had collected and rarely sold. It didn't matter to him anymore, this terrible cough had gotten worse as of late and his health was rapidly deteriorating. The man with the mask scared him, more then he could imagine. He wanted nothing to do with that fellow. He coughed several times, having to bring his dirty hankey to his mouth to catch the falling blood and then wipe it from his mouth. Shoving the cloth back into his pocket without giving it a second thought he saw the man actually pursuing him.

"No man that carries an air of death could possibly be good news, go away!" He demanded this time, coughing even harder, this time bending over unable to support himself for much longer. Simply the man was just frightened by his mask and thought it would bring more bad omens then the town already seemed to have.

"Please sir..." Rasera quickly stepped in next to Mask looking down at him. "Just a simple question, and we will leave you, I promise. Calcynthern. An herb. It was once sold in this town and I was wondering if perhaps there was some still being sold..." She knew it was asking a lot, knew there was little hope but she had to try for her father.

The man looked the girl over and sighed. "The herb you seek may be left in one place. A shop called Borgum's across town. But good luck affording it, because this whole town is full of sick people who have been trying to buy medication from him and his prices skyrocketed." The man hid further away from Mask, not wanting to be close to him. "I don't want anything in return, just leave my shop quickly and don't touch anything." His voice was raspy, the blood was gurgling in his throat. He didn't have long to live but he didn't want to shorten his life anymore that it was by having this guy around.

Rasera bowed gently, thanking the man several times over before leaving the shop. They had what they wanted to it was no use to scare the man further. "Thank you." She said to Mask once he had rejoined her.

Mask paused as the man spoke. What did he mean by that. Mask backed away a few steps. Did he really carry an air of death with him? Could that be why his family had been slaughtered and his sister taken away? No, that wasn't right. The man was old, he was sick, and he was frightened. He simply was trying to get Mask away from him. As Rasera come up next to Mask he looked down at her for a second, then backed up a little more. If the man was frightened of him, then perhaps it was better to be out of sight. Mask ducked back into the shadows as he listened to their exchange.

So the herb was still around here. He thought about that for a moment. It didn't seem right that the man who owned the shop had done that. After all the town was poor enough, and with the herd not being bought anymore, how did the man make a living at all? It seemed strange to Mask, but he shrugged. When the man asked for nothing in return, Mask respected that, and while Rasera thanked the man a lot, Mask kept quiet. He didn't need the man to die from a panic attack. He simply followed Rasera out silently. When they were in the street, Mask pulled the top part of the Mask off and looked down at it. When Rasera spoke he glanced over at her with a smile.

"You're welcome," although I'm not sure how much good I did there." He looked back at the shop for a moment then back to her. "Alright, so shall we go check out the other shop?" he asked, keeping his Mask in his hand, he figured if he had to scare the man out of his damned herbs, he now knew how to. Although, for Mask, technically money wasn't a problem. It never had been since he was little, and with his mother dead, he owned everything she had. The house he was raised in still stood, and the services still worked on keeping it clean, although it had been empty since Vespira had been taken away. He sure as hell wasn't going back there, and he assumed she wouldn't want to anyways.

The sky was getting darker though, and Mask glanced up quickly. "Storm is coming," he said, altough he seemed a little unconvinced. It had been so clear and blue out earlier. Now there seemed to be no one left on the streets except travelers, what very few there were. The shops were still open however, the people who owned them glancing outside with weary eyes every few seconds though. "So we might want to hurry," he added as he looked back down towards Rasera.

Rasera clung to the information the man in the shop had given her. This was a hope, something to help his father at least live the rest of his days in peace instead of the incessant pain he had been living with for the past couple of years. “Oh father…” She said softly to herself, sadness to her expression that was gone as fast as it came.

At the mention of the storm coming she glanced nervously to the sky. “Is it known for these parts for a storm to roll in fast?” She asked with concern lacing her voice. Something creeped her out about this town and it wasn’t the dirty men she had met on her entering of the town. The stillness, the man coughing up blood and the dark clouds that moved in faster that what would seem natural.

Rasera quickened her step a bit in order to keep pace with Mask as they headed across town. She felt a sharp bit of awareness out of no where and looked up to see a rogue piece of wood falling from a balcony falling towards them. “Look out!” Wide eyed, she pushed Mask as hard as her little body could just in time to keep from him getting impaled by the sharp projectile. “I-I’m so sorry…” Her face turned rather red as she realized she was on top of him and quickly got off and sat next to him looking at the piece of wood that was firmly planted in the ground.

Mask looked down at Rasera as she spoke to herself, and he’d seen the sadness that quickly overcame her and then vanished. His first thought was to comfort her, and he brushed his mask off completely instead. He took the top half and hid it inside a pocket of his, and then took the bottom half and pulled it down so that it no longer covered his mouth. He brushed his hood back as well, and this exposed his light blueish grey hair and light icy grey eyes. “Don’t worry,” he said softly to her, “We’ll find the herb and then get out of her.”

At her next words he too looked up to the sky. He was also confused for the storm that had come in so swiftly. “I’m not really sure,” he admitted. He’d caught the nervous edge in her tone. He reached out a little, and then hesitated before he put his hand gently on her arm. It was a comforting gesture, but he was awkward at it and not really sure what to do with it. “I’m sure it’s something normal around here. That probably why everyone was unnerved. It must be a storm season.”He was trying to be reassuring. He wasn’t quite sure how well that worked for him.

Mask kept his pace even as they headed to where the man with the herbs was supposed to be. He heard something above him, just as Rasera called out. He looked up in time and saw what it was that was coming and felt Rasera push into him. His first instinct, he acted upon, and threw his arms around her to protect her as he stumbled backwards and fell onto his back. He released her as she apologies and he sat up as she sat next to him. “No, thank you,” he said looking towards the wood impaled into the ground. “You just saved my life.”

Looking up to Mask, Rasera had not expected him to take his coverings from his face, let alone what was underneath. He was handsome, far more so than she had assumed and it brought a bit of heat to her cheeks. She quickly shook her head though, thinking herself shallow for holding such thoughts. She didn't have to think too long before she had saved Mask.

Rasera blushed lightly, half in shock and half being so close to someone to did not know. She nodded absently to Mask, looking to the broken pieces of wood that would have impaled him had he have been standing there. "You would have done the same..." She said softly, standing up and looking around to see if someone had been after them. She looked back down to Mask with concerned eyes, "Is there someone after you?...or...?" She would have asked the same for herself but she had made no enemies besides the ruffians on her way into town.

(Fail post is fail butttt, lets try to get this going again, eh?)

Mask’s eyes flickered back from the wood to Rasera. A smile pulled at his lips as he looked up to her. He had to think about she’d asked for a moment. After all, he’d been traveling so long he wasn’t sure anymore. “Hm…” he said absently. “Someone after me…” After a moment of thought he picked himself up off the ground and shrugged. “Not anyone I know of. Unless the same people from my childhood, but I’d assume them dead or too old to follow me anymore.” He glanced quickly up to where the wood had been. It seemed more like bad luck to him, rather than anyone having tried to hurt either of them.

Shaking himself mentally, Mask smiled comfortingly at Rasera. “Shouldn’t we be heading to a greedy man with a medicine?” he asked softly. He took a few steps towards where they were supposed to be going, but paused and waited. He didn’t want to stray too far from Rasera. So he’d wait till she started walking again to resume his pace. From over head the first few drops of rain started to fall from the sky. Large drops that splattered against the dry ground.

Mask rolled his eyes at the rain, and didn’t bother to pull his hood back up. He liked the cold feel of the water on him. It reminded him he was still living, and that he had a purpose in his life. He has to find his sister with whatever means necessary, and that he would. Still he looked up and a drop landed on his forehead. He chuckled slightly at that and then looked back down to where he was going. A strange thing rain. It was water from the sky which different people had different reasons for.

Rasera gave Mask a concerned look when he wasn’t too confident that someone might not be after him, far too relaxed about the entire thing for her comfort. At the mention that anyone that he could be on their hit-list was more than likely dead the girl relaxed a little watching Mask stand and start making his way back in the direction they had been headed.

Rasera stood with a faint smile and a nod; of course she would get the medicine for her father. That was the only reason she had left her home in the first place to come to this god awful city. She caught up to walk along side of him and looked up as the rain began to fall. A curious question came to her, which she thought she should have asked a lot sooner. “Um, not that I am not very grateful…but may I ask why you are helping me so much?” She asked, uncertain if she should have at that point. If she were left alone now she would more than likely either get lost or attacked once more. Neither had she really liked the idea of.

Mask paused for a moment. That was actually a really good question. He picked back up his stride after a moment and walked besides her once more. Why exactly was he helping her so much. He actually was silent for a few minutes. Meanwhile he wind had started to pick up as the sky grew darker. Mask glanced up briefly, wondering exactly how bad of a storm this was going to be, and when it would finally break open in the sky to assail the ground.

"To be honest," he said, looking for the right words to say, "I'm not really sure." He shrugged and turned a carefree smile to Rasera. "Maybe it's because you look so much like my sister," he offered. "Maybe it's because I'm a hopeless knight when it comes to a damsel I'm distress, no offense if any," he added. "Or maybe it's because I've been alone for so long it's nice to have someone none furry with four legs to talk to." He chuckled softly at his own joke, but kept that smile on his face.

Rasera smiled politely when Mask said he wasn't sure why he was helping her, but in an odd why it made her feel better. Not knowing why and having a hidden agenda were two very different things, not that she had assumed the worst of him. That was a weakness of hers, assuming the best in a person until proven otherwise due to her full lack of seeing the world for what it really was. As Mask went on she listened quietly, with a faint trace of a smile on her face. Being the damsel in distress to a knight sounded so much like a fairy tale it appealed to her. At the mention of not being the type of company to be furry she raised a questioning glance in his direction. "I've very little doubt I'd be furry." She let the statement hang in the air, more so as a question for him to explain.

As they drew closer to the shop to where the medicine was supposed to be, Rasera grew a little nervous. This was her fathers only hope at recovery and if it wasn't here then she wasn't sure where she would turn next. She looked up to see a dirty looking sign saying 'Borgums' written on it and figured it was the place the old man had been speaking of. With a quickly look to Mask, she pushed open the door and walked inside. It wasn't nearly as cluttered as the last shop, but she couldn't deny the shelves were overflowing with items that looked a little more than useless. Along the walls and near the windows plants sat, looking in the best condition than anything. That brought at least a little hope to her.

A man, standing just over six feet, with roping muscles and a hard gaze came from the back room and looked at the pair that had entered. His dark brown eyes looked around to ensure they were the only ones before he addressed them. "We're near closing, what do you want?" He didn't mean to come off as rude as he sounded but there was a horrible feeling in the air, and in this town that never meant anything good.

Rasera meekly stepped forward, this man was large enough to break her in half if he so desired. " My name is Rasera, I am looking for an herb called Calcynthern...do you have it for sale?" The introduction more than likely wasn't necessary but she was nervous and unsure what to say.

"Calcynthern?" A sly grin slid on to the mans face for a moment while he considered the herb, she was looking for a rather rare one. "The name is Rekin, and I do indeed have what you are looking for." He waited a moment, watching as the girl got an overjoyed look on her face. "30 gold pieces per unit." He stated his price. "Or a couple nights with me." He grinned, not really even paying attention to Mask, he didn't look like much of a threat.

Mask chuckled at Rasera's responce to his furry comment. He brushed at his wet wair lightly to push it out of his eyes a little before he actually went onto say what the comment had meant. "I was speaking more of the four legged neighing kind of furry," he said with a grin. "I have a horse outside of town, a mare named Sorrahkin. She's been my only travel partner as of late." He laughed again, then added, "She's not the best conversationalist, to be honest. She just snorts and pretends she's not listening." He smiled happily, "That's alright, my sister trained her well. She wouldn't go anywhere even if someone tried to drag her. That girl would probably sit down and eat grass if someone took her reins other than me or Vespira."

As the walked, Mask looked around and saw the shop that they'd been heading too. It honestly didn't look like much except a dirty place. Be fitting for a scumbag man,' Mask thought bitterly. He smiled reasurringly at Rasera as she turned to give him a quick glance. He could tell she was nervous and excited. She wanted to help her father so badly, and Mask could relate to that easily. As she pulled open the door, he held it till she was inside completely, then followed after her. He waited till she'd taken a few steps forwards before shaking his head and scattering rain to the ground around him. It hadn't gone far enough to hit her.

Mask glanced around before starting to look at a few of the things the man had. It was all foreign stuff to him, but what a town demands, a merchant supplies he supposed. At the hard voice, Mask looked up and over at the man. The way he sounded made Mask almost want to punch him. Was that anyway to talk to customers? He kept his mouth shut though and pretended not to care much about what the man was doing. They were about the same height, and although the man was a lot more showing of muscels than Mask was, he figured he could take him easily if he had to.

Mask was really only half paying attention to the conversation Rasera started with the man. He was still pretending to look at things he had no clue what they were, and out of boredum, he started to read a few of the packages and other wares. It was only when the man said he did have the medicine that Mask really started to pay attention. At the man's words of price or bed, Mask glanced up and put the item back. He hand went to his hilt of the sword, origionally hidden by the cloak, but he paused for a moment. He didn't want to scare the man completely yet. Instead, he pushed his cloak back and exposed the shinning metal of his sword as he swiftly came to Rasera's side. He fixed the man with a cold hard stare, half wanting to pull a dagger to the man's neck and make him apologies for his speak. That or just kill him. Both offers were tempting.

If there was anything that made Mask's skin crawl, it was the way a man spoke to a women. A way that the man treated a women. He really had an itching to either squarely punch the man in the face after a side kick in the balls. Or pull a dagger on him. However, he didn't want to ruin Rasera's chances of getting the medicine she needed. One reason why he'd taken the mask completely off in the first place. Even if he did look less threatening without it. "Trouble?" he growled, fixing his eyes on the man still, though the question was directed at Rasera.

Rasera couldn't help the small half step she took back at the mans prices, nearly running into Mask has he came up behind her. She was a little more put at ease when was at her side and looked up to him then back to the shop owner. She pulled a small sack of coins from her side and held them tightly, "I have twenty five gold pieces.." She offered hoping that it was close enough to the price that he would take it.

Rekin locked eyes with Mask, not liking his fighting stance this man had experience that he wasn't expecting. He was the highest dealer in town and liked his more than average life style in this town. No, death was not in his list of things to do and while he was confident in his abilities he wasn't sure how serious this man was. "I was talking to the lady." He directed towards Mask and then back down to Rasera. "30 is the lowest I'll go. If you wish to fill the rest of your price with time, I wouldn't object." He spoke as if he were trading wool or something, a strictly business tone with a slight smirk curling on his lips.

Mask's cold look kept on the man through Rasera and his conversation. His eyes narrowed and alert for any move the man would make. He had no intention of doing anything except look threatening. And although he seriously wished he could pull a dagger out and put it to the man's throat, he figured that be best not to do. What he could do however was exactly what he was doing. Mask's gaze only drifted when Rasera looked up at him, and he quickly changed his look to that of a smile for her before his icy grey eyes returned to the shop owner. How he hated people like this man. He had always hated people like this. However, he reached inside his cloak and gripped a small bag and pulled it out, keeping it hidden in his hand. It enough of a show that it couldn't be mistaken as a weapon, for the pouch's leather was seen through Mask's fingers. He had plenty enough gold for anything in the world he so desired, and he kept small amount on his person in different places. The most he had was on Sorrahkin, only because the horse kicked anyone who got near her.

Mask snarled silently as the man spoke to him, but he still kept his body relaxed and pose more protective than anything threatening. Of course as the man went on, Mask was more inclined to throw something at him again. A knife, an arrow from his bow, something sharp and pointy that would injure and or hopefully kill him, but he didn't let any of his thoughts show on his face. Instead he turned a soft look to Rasera. "I can help if you want," he offered shrugging. Then in a low voice so the man couldn't hear, he added, "Rich boy with no family acquired a lot of money. And hell, if you want, I could kick the guy or knock him out, or anything that would apease you. It'd be my pleasure." The last statement came out rather cold, but he still smiled at her and shook the small pouch in his hand. The soft sound of coins jingled inside of it.

Rasera turned her attention to Mask when he started speaking to her and looked at the small bag he brought out from him side. She couldn't help the small trace of a smile that came to her for a moment when he had offered to kick the large man behind the counter. For whatever reason, the idea seemed almost comical to her, asking someone to kick another. As she considered his offer however, she felt a twinge of guilt that she didn't have enough money on her. "If it would possible to borrow it until I return home, I would be in your debt." She said quietly. She might not have been rich but she knew she could at least repay Mask once back at her home. "Only if you wouldn't mind of course..."

Rekin figured soon enough that he wasn't going to spend the night with this woman, the annoying man surrounding her didn't seem like he was going to let it happen, be it her brother, lover, or whatever. He waited as they spoke to one another, tapping a finger on the counter as he watched the man pull a bag out and jingle the contents. How disappointing. "Do you have it, or not?" He growled, leaning in closer to Rasera to speed this a long a little bit.

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