Chapter 1: Whispering Rumors

[SeverineHalo]

Severine sat by himself in the corner of a tavern. It has been a day since he and Tierria were in the city of Dasai...the city of soldiers. It also has been a day since he found out that the girl got to the city before he did. The two argued for sometime, but he knew he couldn't send her all the way back to Uderza. not with all the dangers going around and everything. He was disappointed in her, but he might as well as accept that the two of them was going to be traveling together for a long time. Right now, the girl was walking around the city.

She might be of some use with her healing skills, Severine thought to himself.

Another thing Severine thought of, was how he was going to make some money. He could become a mercenary like many warriors in Caeleteth, and if there was any place that had work, it would be Dasai. He could even uncover some information about the fire eight years ago...

Brushing his long braids from infront of his face, Severine sighed. He knew it was a long shot even hearing about the incident itself around these parts. There was no way that-

"Remember that fire years back?"

Severine's eyes darted over to a group of two cloaked figures, sitting at a nearby table. Close enough for Severine to hear most of their conversation. He couldn't make out their faces, only their brown cloaks were visible to the untrained eye. As Severine listened closely, he didn't get all of their conversation...only some of it.

"...She was around that area...she had to be. We did hear about a woman resembling a kasumarri female around the Rahaz-Dath desert...

"...They say that nobody survived that fire. I could've sworn I saw her in the distance when we were there. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the cause of it..."

"...There has to be a link between her and that assassin we keep hearing about. I think the name is The Ivory Fox? Only a kasumarri or someone trained under oen could've done the things we've heard about..."

The Ivory Fox? Severine thought to himself.

He didn't want to make himself known, so he decided to listen a little longer. But he couldn't make out any more of what they were saying. The two figures then left their table, and went upstairs. Perhaps they were going to their rooms. He would have to ask to innkeeper who those two people were. Making his way over to the counter pass the card games and and loud conversations, Severine came up to the innkeeper.

"Excuse me" he said. "Those two people in the brown cloaks. Can you please tell me who they are?"

The innkeeper shrugged. "Don't know exactly. They didn't really give a name...just put their money down, and ordered for a room. Don't really care though...as long as they don't make no trouble. I rather not know who they are actually. Unfortunately for me, I have the privilege of knowing the trouble makers well. If you want, I can tell you what room they're in. Just don't give me no trouble, you hear?"

Severine nodded. "I just wish to speak to them, that's all."

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Tierria Selig]

Tierria walked around the city of Dasai, to get a breath of fresh air out of that cramped tavern. Being in an area filled with men gawking at you wasn't her idea of a good time. Going past the houses of old and new, Tierria took a good look at the sea, which was filled with sailboats going in and out of the harbor.

"This is a beautiful place" the girl said to herself.

This place probably also had good night views, which would add up to a romantic situation. Too bad Severine was usually asleep when she wanted to go out at night. She started thinking back to when the two were arguing in the room she ordered before him. She wanted to go with him to travel the world. She too wanted to see the world for what it was. Uderza was a nice place, but not everbody wanted to live in the same place all their life. Was Severine concerned for her safety? Of course he was. Was Severine concerend for her because he loved her? As a friend without a doubt...but as more...she always wondered. To her, that boy would always be a mystery no matter what. And those braids of his covering his eyes when he thinks doesn't help either. But of course he would never admit that he needed her. She had no problem to admit that she needed him though. She would be damned if she was left alone in this world...without him. By the power of Seyella, she would help him in any way possible.

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[SeverineHalo]

Severine was lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He talked with the innkeeper some more, and learned that the cloaked figures would stay here for one more day. That gave him some time to think about how he would approach them.

As his mind drifted back and forth, the scene with the tent bruning began playing back into his mind. He could still feel the ehat emitting from the flames...he could still here the yells and screams coming from those watching. He could still feel the random feelings that was going through his body while being only helpless to do anything. His father...his mother...his aunts...uncle...and cousins...they were all killed. All seven of his family members. And he was helpless to do anything.

Sitting up in his bed, Severine stared at the wall. Evening was drawing close, and Tierria would return soon. Severine began tying his hair back, only letting a few braids fall infront of his handsome face. He found it funny that some of the local drunks thought he was a woman at times, and tried flirting with him. Maybe he'll be entertained that way...at least that would get his mind off certain things until Tierria came back. He would tell her what he would do, and then talk to the two mysterious people.

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Phiona Whitefire]

Phiona stepped into the busy inn with a sigh of relief.  She eased into a chair at what looked like the only empty table in the place, setting her bundles and an unstrung bow on the floor near her feet.

Although tired, she did not regret her day.  It had been amazing and very informative; hours spent wandering the old fortress of the Rahaz-Dath Mercenaries- she was most impressed with the Archery Division and it made her want to bring up her skill in the long bow- and Phiona was very glad she'd brought her journal and scribing materials along so she could take various notes.  Tomorrow, she'd need to go again so she could make some adjustments to the maps in her atlas- what a wealth of maps they had on display in that museum!  It was enough to make her smile again, just thinking back on it.  

After the museum, Phiona went by the market place and bought some supplies, hence the many bundles on the floor, and sampled some of the folk cuisine.  Dasai, flanked as it was between a sea of water and a sea of sand, had some of the tastiest, grilled and spiced fish, served in a convenient wrap of thinly baked bread so one could walk and eat at the same time.  Sun-dried fruit was also a favorite-  oh!  the variety- and these stall were always the first to sell out in a day.  Washed down with iced wine the market place was surely worth visiting just for the food alone!  

She then visited a number of weapons-shops and in one, she had to break down and buy the bow that now rested against her leg, unstrung.  It was the finest workmanship she ever seen, elegantly carved of a wood she could not name, for it was imported form some distant, elven forest.  There was a stylized 'V' etched in just above the leather-wrapped handle, along with the name 'Sagitari'.  Although the twelve Smithees of Dasai usually dealt  in forged weapons, some had long ago branched out to weapons constructed of wood.  She admired the curve of the longbow, grateful that they did.

Phiona looked up to the innkeeper and saw he was currently engaged with a young man who was tall, with long black braids and dark skin; she wondered why he didn't catch her attention the moment she walked into the room.  She waited until she caught the eye of the innkeeper and she raised her hand to indicate a reorder of the same drink she always had while staying here these last three days- a mulled red wine, lightly spiced.  Then Phiona turned back to evaluate her new bow some more.

Sometime later, when the innkeeper brought her the warm drink, Phiona looked up but the man with black braids had gone.

 

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 7/23/03 21:00

[Tierria Selig]

Tierria decided to go back to the inn to get something to eat and drink. While being gawked at once again, she noticed that all the tables were filled. Plus, Severine was nowhere in sight.

Maybe he went to his room, she thought to herself.

As Tierria's eyes scanned the room, she noticed a woman sitting at a table by herself. She had long brown hair with dark brown eyes, and tanned skin. She was also the only woman (besides Tierria) in this tavern who didn't work here. Tierria decided that it was best sitting with her. The Stratanian girl then made her way over to the woman.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" she asked in her most polite voice.

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[Phiona Whitefire]

"Excuse me, may I sit here?"

Phiona looked up at the young woman who addressed her.  Seeing as all the other tables were full, Phiona nodded and made a small gesture toward the empty chair to her left, since her right hand was employed with gripping her half-full goblet.  "Please do."  There were two other chairs at the table, although the one to Phiona's immediate right was hosting a few of her purchases from the day.

Phiona took a moment to study the dark-skinned woman as she sat.  She was dressed all in white and had raven-black hair worn in a very exotic style.  Phiona turned her gaze to another part of the common room and took a sip of her now-cool mulled wine, fully aware of the attention this beautiful woman was drawing to their table.

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 7/23/03 22:11

[Tierria Selig]

"Thank you."

Tierria sat down, and pulled herself forward. Seeing a waiter nearby, she ordered for some juice. She was not one to drink alcohol. The woman looked like she could protect herself without a problem, so Tierria felt comfortable around her. She ignored the leering that was going on, and decided to stir up a conversation.

"So, what brings you to Dasai, if you don't mind me asking?"


((ooc: wanted to make it longer, but have to go in a bit.))

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[Phiona Whitefire]

"To learn from the merc school.  Gather supplies."  Phiona put down her empty goblet and turned her gaze to the young woman.  "Might stay awhile, who knows?  Who are you?"

The waiter brought the woman's drink and Phiona tapped her own goblet with an index finger, thereby ordering another, before looking back at her drinking companion.  "I'm Phiona."  She leaned back in her chair and glanced over her left shoulder, giving a warning look at one particularly lecherous old man that was oggling the raven-haired beauty from behind.  He looked away.  

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 7/23/03 22:45

[Tierria Selig]

Recieving her juice, Tierria paid the waiter and smiled.

"My name is Tierria Selig. I'm from the city of Uderza. My friend Severine and I just started to travel around Sarvonia. Hopefully, the rest of the world as well. We always talked about how wonderful it would be to see Caelereth in all of its glory..." Tierria sighed a little, thinking back to the conversation that they had a few years ago about the world. Severine ended up falling asleep in her arms. What she wouldn't give to have another moment like that...

Tierria took a sip from her drink. "Maybe Severine will go to the mercenary school with you...that is if we can gather the money. But, he probably would think going to the school would slow us down on our journey."

It's funny how it got from 'his' journey to 'ours'...

Tierria took another sip. "It's nice to see another lady in here who is not an employee. Being around these leecherous men makes me a little nervous."  

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[SeverineHalo]

Severine got off his bed, and walked out of his room. He headed down the hallway to speak to the two cloaked people, and not wait for Tierria. He figured that she was probably eating somewhere, or talking to someone, knowing her. He would tell her of his results later on.

From what the innkeeper told him, their room was was few doors down from his. Before knocking, Severine's eyes were fixed on the wooden door before him. Severine took a few deep breaths, and tapped the door with his knuckles. When there was no answer after a few minutes, Severine did it again. This time, there was a low male voice.

"Who is it?"

Severine hesitated before replying. "Uh...my name is Severine. I wish to talk to you for a few minutes about something important."

At first there was no sound from the other side of the door. Severine leaned against the door, with his untied braids falling infront of his face. He waited for a nearly a minute before the voice spoke again.

"Fine."

The door opened, and Severine saw the two people with their cloaks still on. Judging by body form, Severine saw that one was male, and the other appeared to be female. Closing the door, Severine gave a short wave.

"Hello. Thank you for your-"

"State your case." The male was straight to the point.

Severine was rather not surprised. He figured that the situation would be this tense. "Well I want to talk about a conversation that you two was having downstairs-"

"So you was eavesdropping?" demanded the female.

"Well...yes. But for good reason though. You see...I lost my family in that fire years ago in the desert. And ever since that day, I vowed that I would find out who did it. I-"

"Let me guess. You think we have something to do with it?" interupted the male. "Or you think we might know who did it?"

I guess these two are not known for their manners, thought Severine.

"I was hoping you did." Severine hoped they kenw he was talking about the latter.

The two cloaked figures turned to each other for a moment. They were both silent, making it seem like they were reading each other's minds. The female gave the male a short nod, and they turned back to Severine.

"Since you suffered a great lost, we'll tell you a little bit of what we know."

Severine nodded. "Thank you" he said.

The male shook his head. "Don't thank us" he said. "You caught us on a good day. We probably would've killed you for listening to our personal business. But, might as well get you out of here as fast as possible. There is a woman that we are looking for, who we think was involved with the fire that we saw years back. Why we are looking for her is our own business. We believe that she might go under the name of 'The Ivory Fox' nowadays, committing assassinations from time to time. She is usually active north of here, but has killed a few wealthy men around this area as of late. So if you want answers about your family's death, look for her. That is, if our suspicions are right. But I doubt you will live longer after meeting her. That is all we can say."

"Thank you very much..." Severine was slightly disappointed that he couldn't learn more. He then caught the an eye of the male looking at his sword.

"May I see that for a moment?"

"Sure..." Severine took out the black and silver handle bastard sword, and handed it to the man.

The cloaked male stared at it carefully. "Very nice..." he said. "Very nice indeed. Even though it looks new, I can tell it has been through many battles. This blade...I can feel something from it..."

He then looked at Severine, revealing his grey eyes. "Never lose this sword."

Severine nodded. "Of course I won't lose it." Severine was given back the sword. After putting it in its sheath, Severine headed for the door. Saying thank you one more time, Severine left the room.

The cloaked man turned to the woman. "If he wishes to defeat her...he better never let go of that blade..."

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Tierria Selig]

"I wonder what Severine is doing..."

Tierria sighed, and looked around the room. She could tell that most of the men now had their eyes off of her. Tierria smiled to herself, and took another sip from her drink.

Hmm, I wonder why that is? she thought with a sly smile. She was starting to like this Phiona woman already. She was actually starting to hope that she would end up traveling with them. She could use the friendly company of another female. She wasn't like the female friends Tierria had back at Uderza, who wouldn't even have the guts to step into this tavern full of perverted men. And even if they did, they would be shaking in their shoes.

"Excuse me beautiful."

Being caught off guard from her thoughts, Tierria looked up, and saw a muscular man with a face that looked like it has been ran over by a horse a few times. She figured that he would like to buy her a drink or something. Being addressed with this kind of situation before, the girl would have to let him off gently.

"Yes?" she asked.

The man grinned, and looked around the tavern, as if he wasn't sure of who was watching. "Listen...I know you're waiting for a man who wants a good time. Let's cut the bull, and go up to my room here. If you're good enough, I'll pay you well."

Tierria looked at the man in complete shock. Did he think she was a prostitute!? Just because she was a beautiful girl who dressed well in a trashy place like this didn't mean that she was selling her body!

"Get away!" Tierria cried, and turned away.

"I tried asking nicely. I don't have much time, so let's get this over with!" The man's large hand grabbed Tierria's small wrist.

"Hey!" cried Tierria, trying to pull away. "Let go of me!"

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[SeverineHalo]

Severine went back downstairs to see if Tierria was around. He kept thinking about he was going to go about asking where this 'Ivory Fox' lady might be. He also thought about what the man said about his sword.

Never lose this sword...

The Sword of Halo has been in his family for some time now. When the man said it was special, he probably was telling the truth, because the blade was said to do some amazing things while in battle. Even his father said that he had a strange experience once while fighting with it. Severine always wondered what that experience was, but nobody could explain it. It was also said in family folklore that the sword was made for a certain dark event to help the family. Most of the people in the Halo family believed the fire was that event.

As Severine scanned the room, he saw a man with his hand on Tierria, who was trying to pull away.

"Tierria!" he shouted, and ran over.

Before the man knew it, his lights were knocked out by a strong right. Before Severine could say anything, several men stood by a nearby table.

"Hey!" one of them shouted. "That was our friend you knocked out!"

Great, thought Severine. So much for peace and quiet...  

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

[Tierria Selig]

Tierria looked up at Severine, speechless.

I guess he always know when to come at the right time, she thought to herself.

She then saw several men rise up from their seats, and mentioning that the man Severine knocked out was their friend.

"Uh-oh." was all she could say.

"How do you heal a man's heart when you always end up wounding it?"

[Phiona Whitefire]

"It's nice to see another lady in here who is not an employee. Being around these lecherous men makes me a little nervous." Tierria remarked while sipping her juice.

Phiona nodded in agreement, wondering why the waiter was taking so long in bringing her refill.  ((OOC: Here follows the reason why Phiona didn't react right away to Tierria's situation.))  Impatiant, Phiona decided to go to the bar instead and have the innkeeper handle it.  She murmurred, "Be right back," knowing instinctively that the young woman would keep an eye on Phiona's purchases.

And so Phiona was at the bar, across the room, when the following occurred:

"Excuse me beautiful."  The strange man.

"Yes?" Tierria asked.

The man grinned,  "Listen...I know you're waiting for a man who wants a good time. Let's cut the bull, and go up to my room here. If you're good enough, I'll pay you well."

"Get away!" Tierria cried, and turned away.

"I tried asking nicely. I don't have much time, so let's get this over with!" The man's large hand grabbed Tierria's small wrist.

"Hey!" cried Tierria, trying to pull away.

"Let go of me!"

Hearing Tierria's cry, but not what led up to it, Phiona turned from the innkeeper to see what the matter was.  Across the smokey room, she saw the man with the black braids moving quickly to help the young woman.  "Tierria!" he shouted, as he ran across the common room.  Phiona watched as Tierria's Severine- for it could only be the man she mentioned earlier- landed a hard punch to the villain that had accosted the beautiful woman the moment Phiona had left her alone.  

As the man hit the floor, several of his companions approached, "Hey!" one of them shouted. "That was our friend you knocked out!"

There were more than a half dozen and Phiona could see that maybe Severine was outnumbered.  He was certainly surrounded.  Well enough, she was not about to let this go, he was only defending his friend.  Forgetting the drink she'd just ordered, Phiona strode forward, then skirted the group until there was only one man between her and Tierria.  Her plan was to pull the young woman out of what could turn into an ugly tavern brawl...

Her target did not see Phiona's approach, so intent was the moan on closing in toward Severine.  She swiftly slipped her leg in front of his and pushed him forward, using his momentum against him.  He fell flat on his face.  Before he could register what happened, Phiona stepped heavily on his back- forcing his breath out- and over him to arrive at Tierria's side.  "That way!" She said urgently as she pointed to the breach, "Go to the innkeeper.. Now!"

Phiona turned to face the next nearest villain.

"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."    -John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890)

Edited by: Phiona Whitefire at: 7/24/03 22:12

[SeverineHalo]

Severine stared at the woman who just entered herself on his side, in what was to be one mess of a tavern fight. She looked like she could handle herself pretty well, so he was fine with her helping him. And the fact she helped Tierria showed that she had a good heart.

"Hi" greeted Severine, grinning at the men before, though he was talking to the woman. "Come to join the fun?"

Heh, he thought. I probably don't even need my weapons for this. They'll pay for messing around with a lady. Drunken bastards...

Severine turned to the woman, and made a path for her.

"Ladies first."

"Once again, the lone soldier walks off into the sunset..." -Anonymous

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