Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[Rothene]

Seeing Zeff's tightening grip on his weapon, Richard instinctively tightened his own grip on the mallet handle, his brain considered the various openings his larger reach could take advantage off. It worked out the most effective way to incapacitate this erstwhile customer in a single strike. But his rational mind got the better of him. This is a customer. You're not in the army Richard. Down with the sword and up with the pen, be diplomatic. His grip on the mallet still tight, Richard smiled at Zeff warmly and confidently.

Letting out a long sigh, Richard's arms shot forward quickly and gripped Zeff's shoulder tightly, almost uncomfortably, and said in his most erudite and considerate voice, "Look here son, I mean you no harm. Trust me when I say I'm on your side. Surely, there's a girl you are after, your one in a life time chance in being with the one you love."

Leaning closer, Richard whispered gently, "I, Richard, am presenting you with the opportunity to purchase a rather exquisite dye, one of such regal bearing that would make the girl the envy of all others if she but dyes her clothes with it. Which will indubitably yield her undying gratitude of you. All for a humble sum of sixty gold."

***

"I have no idea," Caslan said as he started extracting water from the surrounding to feed his mount with his eyes closed in concentration. There was no short supply of it here, with all the ones still on Celine and most importantly, the melting frost among the trees. "Well, sorry about not finishing my task earlier."

Edited November 5, 2013 by Rothene

[eclipse]

"We're in the middle of a randomly frozen place," Celine reminded him sharply. "How can you be so damn calm?" She shot an apologetic look at the horse.

[Ether]

"If it will improve my magic, then let's do it." Elysia replied, no hesitation, as Hale made his offer.

"Anything to get stronger."

[Rothene]

"Erm...I knew an ice mage who is definitely in town. It could have been her..." Then Caslan realised he was indeed surrounded by ice and it indeed looked like a fight broke out...

"Oh, what if a fight took place here?!" Caslan thought worriedly, "But, no signs of blood anywhere. if there was I could have detected them."

Looking back at Joey who appeared feeble, Caslan tugged at the horse to stand up, "Hey, Joey, we gotta go back to the stable." Not wanting to remain in this creepy place, Joey stood up. The pain was starting to subside as the charcoal worked its wonders. With Joey strong enough to stand, The elf and horse started to make their way back to the stable.

"Hey, thanks for bringing water with you," Caslan teased Celine, referring to the water that remained on Celine when she had chased him.

[Vestige]

You're joking... "Sixty gold? For some dye. 'Regal' as you put it. Richard, if I may, there is no woman on the face of the planet who will start swooning over a man just because he bought her some coloring. Surely you jest. Besides, I alre-. You know what? Forget it. Fine. Give me the damn dye."

Sixty gold was certainly a rip-off price, Zeff knew that much for a fact. At worst, even if you didn't acquire the dye directly from a purple yielding source, you could just take red and blue and mix it together. Sure, the color wouldn't be exactly the same, but it was significantly cheaper to do so. Still, he wasn't exactly short on change and even though throwing away sixty gold was probably the dumbest decision he could make, especially given his business mindset, he complied if only to rid himself of this man.

He pocketed out sixty gold as asked and thrust his hand forward at Richard. "Just give me the damn dye so I can leave."

[Nanami Touko]

"I... I guess I could try," Linn said, gritting her teeth after speaking. It won't work. "I think you should just do it with Elysia, Hale. I didn't learn my magic the way you all did. Something terrible happened, and it just showed up. I don't think I'll ever have control over it, no matter what I do." She slumped herself onto the table. Her happiness was going away again. "And after all I said to Zeff... I don't think I even deserve this." She hadn't noticed she'd said that, instead of thinking it. "I shouldn't have even said anything about that stupid gauntlet... Me and my damn curiosity." She bit her lip. She didn't want to start crying again.

[eclipse]

"And if I wasn't here, you'd blunder into a pack of bandits while humming a merry tune!" Celine teased right back. Not wanting to stay in the weirdly cold place any longer, she followed Caslan. "By the way, do you know some talkative elf chick?"

[Rothene]

Taking the gold, Richard quickly retrieved the jar of purple dye from the shelf and passed it to Zeff. Pocketing the gold, Richard put on his most serious expression and bowed saying in as cryptic tone as he could muster, "You have indeed made a wise decision. Perhaps the third most life changing one in your life. Now go fort and win your beloved's heart!"

***

"I know two elven girls," Caslan answered Celine, but he was only able to think about one significantly more clearly than the other, "I suppose you are referring to one of them. Why do you ask?"

Edited November 5, 2013 by Rothene

[eclipse]

"She said that she was with the large group stayin' at the inn. You must be a part of 'em, too." Celine let a small smile play on her lips. "Looks like I'm gonna have to tag along, to make sure that you don't go runnin' headlong into a wall or somethin'. That water-liftin' of yours is gonna make bathing so much more pleasant!" Without waiting for his reply, she dashed off towards the inn.

[Ether]

Elysia sighed, as Linn went more in depth about what had her down.

"I was trying to keep you off of him for a reason, you know. When something is close to someone's heart, it hurts a lot when people try to pry at it. What might just seem like a useless trinket to one person, might mean the whole world to another..." Elysia noted, thumbing the pendant that had made it's way back to her hand.

"And you're not allowed to just back out after you beat me. I don't care if you think you got lucky... if I can still lose from bad luck, then it means I'm not where I need to be, yet... besides, how am I supposed to keep track of how I'm progressing if I don't have someone to one-up every once in a while?" The elven mage concluded, trying to cheer up Linn now that the warmth of the inn was reaching her, and from the looks of it, they would be asked of a meal soon enough.

[Vestige]

Every time Richard made mention of attaining the love of the woman he desired. Or winning his beloved's heart. He wanted to yell at the man and tell her she was dead and a piece of crap worth of dye wasn't going to do shit to bring her back, but he kept his mouth shut.

"The thir-How do you even quantify that? You don't even kn-Nevermind. Nevermind." Taking the bottle from Richard he he turned to leave all the while trying to shove the bottle into his pocket. Ugh, this is so annoying. He began contemplating just leaving the dye there and walking out. Not like Richard would complain, he still made money either way.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Vestige

[Rothene]

Huh? Tag along? Caslan pondered on Celine's words as she went off. I suppose the mercenary band has grown larger.

Returning to the stables, Caslan resumed feeding Joey more water.

***

Noticing Zeff's action of trying to stuff the jar into his pocket made Richard displeased, how dare he try to stuff the dye into his mere pockets?!

Grabbing an ornate box from beneath a shelf, Richard strode to Zeff quickly and presented the box saying, "I see your predicament. Such fine dye should NOT have its sanctity defiled by being stuffed into a pocket! Here, place it into this box. It'll only cost you a mere eighteen gold, what a discount!"

[eclipse]

Raelyn's ire did not decrease when a certain formerly-smelly girl burst into the inn. "You are NOT going out in that," Raelyn said flatly. "That's far too small for you."

"Yeah, well, you're the one that bought these threads!" Celine shot back defiantly. "I spent the last of my money on the grub here. What do you want me to do, steal someone else's clothes?"

She's far too loud for her own good, the thieving barmaid thought to herself. That's loud enough for the entire inn to hear.

[Oersted]

As Iris marched back into the inn she did her best to block out whatever the kid's reply was; she was already riled up enough and listening to anymore of the kid's nonsense wouldn't help in that aspect. Shortly after entering the inn a priestly looking man, another of the mercenaries if Iris recalled correctly, approached her and asked what was wrong; or she thought he did at least. Despite wanting to be alone she decided to answer him. "Ah it's... nothing. Just some hot-shot mercenary kid said some things that he shouldn't have." Saying that to the man calmed Iris down slightly but without her rage fueling her all that was left was the sting of the kid's words. Iris had expected something like that but that didn't mean she was at all prepared for it.

Then to make matters worse she'd apparently stepped on another, non-metaphorically this time, mercenary's toes. "I'm sorry..." she said quietly, hoping it would be enough to appease the woman before slinking away to an empty table.

***

"Yeah, that sounds fine," Ernce replied before Alfonso vanished into the stables and reappeared momentarily. Taking Alfonso's lack of a suggestion for a different sparring place as a 'no I don't' Ernce lead the way to where he thought the clearing was. "Alright this should be a big enough space," Ernce said as he readied his lance. "I'll let you take the first move."

[spoiler=Ernce]

Simplified Stats: HP: 21 MT: 9 Hit: 8 AS: 8 AVO: 9 DEF: 6 RES: 2

Equipment/Skills: Plain Lance, Defensive Armor C, Block, Resolve, Tenacity

Level 1/1 Soldier

Inventory: Plain Lance, Defense armor C (Temp null)
Skills: Block, Resolve, Tenacity

Raw Stats: HP: 7 STR: 9 MAG: 0 SKL: 8 SPD: 8 LCK: 2 DEF: 6 RES: 2
Simplified Stats: HP: 21 MT: 9 HIT: 8 AS: 8 AVO: DEF: 6 RES: 2

***

"Yeah I 'spose they will. Just keep an eye on him for a few days after he joins. He's been known to do some pretty crazy things. Why, every town we stop in that has a temple for the Shining God he drags me there and tries to teach me the error of my ways; just cause I don't care if people use dark magic." Zeke let out a sigh, he was ranting at the poor elf. "But seriously, keep an eye on 'em."

[Vestige]

Zeff eyed the man in disbelief. He held nothing but sheer amazement towards his business policies. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Joking. Me. Eighteen gold, for a box. No wait. Let me guess. It's a regal box. Hand crafted by the Lord himself no doubt. Bestowed upon you by the Queen so that I might present it to some otherworldly woman and obtain her love. Is that right? Well then bloody hell, I'll take it!"

He wasn't even mad.

He pocketed out some more gold at dropped them onto the counter. It was actually seventeen pieces of gold, not eighteen.

Probably a miscount.

"If this bullshit doesn't work, I want a refund." Grabbing the box he stuffed the bottle inside and stormed off. Never before had he seen such a bad business man. Well no. Considering he just made seventy-seven gold off a bottle and a box, he might actually be really smart.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Vestige

[Snike]

"Alright, we can work out the details once you've rested up," Hale said to Elysia, before Linn stated she thought it wouldn't help, and mentioned Zeff and his gauntlet. That explained the look he got earlier. Anyways, her elven friend jumped in and explained how the gauntlet might be a precious object, as she handled her own pendant. Then, the subject changed to the training, and despite the... interesting motivations, she insisted that the wind mage continue. Time to speak up.

"Had an accident and that's how you learned about your magic?" Hale asked, as he held his sapphire necklace in one hand. "It can't be as bad as one of my late friends, Victor. Apparently, he accidentally set fire to a few of his village's homes. After about a year, and extensive practice over control, he was one of the best mages I've ever met. If he could do it, anyone can. You just have to believe.

"As for the gauntlet, well, I agree with Elysia. Look at this necklace for example," he said, taking it off and pushing it towards the wind mage. "Doesn't seem like much, yes, but I wouldn't trade it for a thing in the world. Well, maybe for one person..."

The half-elf's expression faltered, for a moment, but he recovered. "Point is, it's precious to him, and he might not take any questions about it that well. Which is understandable, but from what it sounds like, he overreacted. Anyways, I can talk to him later, if need be, to smooth things out. Right now, accept or decline, I just need to make sure you're aware that there is a way to control your spellcraft. That should be enough, for now. "

[Nanami Touko]

Linn was surprised by their responses, only realizing that she'd said that out loud until after they'd both spoken. She couldn't sink much further into her arms, so she sighed instead. "It's not just that. It's what I said to him. I don't think I'll be able to apologize enough for him to ever forgive me." The water works were about to start again, until Hale guessed how she came into her magic, though not exactly why she was so bothered by it. It was a good enough topic change to get her mind away from her impending worry, though.

"Yeah... I had an accident. I don't think it was like your friend Victor's, though..." Why'd he have to guess at it? Now I'm thinking about it again, and that's one of the last things I want...

[spoiler=The incident]

"Diana! Diana, wait up!" Linn called after her friend, as the woman ran out of the inn. They'd been getting drinks, as Inthus had been particularly hot that day. Something they did regularly, when Linn could sneak away from her studies. Diana had been the first person Linn had actually gotten to know in Inthus, and they'd become fast friends. It helped that Diana was studying similar subjects on her own Elf trip into the human world. That's why today was going to be an incredibly unfortunate day for the both of them.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Linn left the inn, looked around the street, and couldn't spot any trace of her. Well, that's odd. I don't think she'd just run off without me. Confused, Linn started walking. As she passed by the alley, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a terrifying sight. Three men that Linn had seen at the inn before were cornering Diana, a typical sight in the slums of the city. It wasn't something Linn thought she'd ever have to witness, especially not in the upper city parts they were in. Not thinking about it for a second, the elf ran down the alley, screaming obscenities at the thugs, and bashing one of them over the head with a brick she'd picked up along the way.

He didn't appreciate that.

Linn was particularly light, and was fairly easy to throw over. "What, y'want some too, girlie!? Oh, we've got plenty ta go around!" the man taunted, looming over the girl. No, no stop! she thought frantically, looking around for something to smack him with. She reached for another brick, but he grabbed her by the leg, and pulled her away from it. Stop! STOP! Her mind screamed, and she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. What happened instead, was the sound of a sharp wind blowing, and a groan from the man in front of her.

She cracked open an eye and seeing that his grip on her was released, quickly backed herself up. Not a moment too soon, as his torso slid off of his legs, and collapsed onto the ground, the pair of limbs standing there, twitching slightly as their nerves shot off signals to a brain that was no longer attached. The other men screamed, and ran, whilst Diana watched in horror, splattered by the blood of the dead man.

Linn wasn't charged, as it was an act of self defense, even if it was entirely by accident. The emissaries she'd been sent with decided that, even though she'd discovered her powers at an older age, it was more prudent that her studies change to them, instead of learning of Inthus and its histories. A mage, especially an elf, without proper control of their magic was a danger that they couldn't risk.

Diana stopped coming by. Whether she'd been traumatized by the event, or she was simply scared of being around Linn anymore, the girl didn't know. Her days of fun and study had left her, and it wasn't until years later, when a traveling priest wandered through, that she found her way out of the country.

Despite all the negative thoughts, it was a bit heartwarming to know that Elysia didn't hate her, especially after taking such a hit. She'd feared the worst, but received a friend instead. Between her and Hale trying to console her about Zeff, and about her magic, she decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself. "Alright. I don't think it'll get me anywhere, but I'll give it a shot." She attempted to smile, and managed a small one, even if she didn't feel much happier. It would take more than some pep talk, and consolation for her to get over what she'd said. But it was a start.

Edited November 5, 2013 by I have opinions

[Bluedoom]

Rimsky watched as some random female showed up in the stables, spilled water on herself and allowed Joey to run. It was mere moments before Caslan and the female brought Joey back to the stables, Rimsky too grumpy to make any effort to help them. As the woman ran off, Rimsky told Caslan, " Well Caslan, you'll want ta feed Joey the whole pail of charcaol i got ya. I think that should be enough. After that we can sit down, take some rest. Maybe talk about about our borin' lives. Hey Cas, what was it like when ya first discovered ya could control water?"

Edited November 5, 2013 by Bluedoom

[Shin]

Aeson listened to the girl's words. Whilst it was clear she wanted to keep it brief, he paid attention, letting her vent a little. Although it wasn't certain, it was rather probable that the grumpy onion in question was Zoff, or was it Zaff? The middle vowel perplexed Aeson, its form as much of a mystery as Linn's "Linn secret surprise stew." The priest only hoped the mercenary didn't have a whole horseradish inside his name as the stew did.

The two shouting women at the door caught his ear. Perhaps it was the day where everyone shouted at each other, could he have possibly forgotten such an event? He watched the argument, still rather confused.

[Snike]

"That's all I'll ask," Hale said, as he made a mental note to talk to Zeff later. "Right, well, thanks for your time. We'll figure out the details later. For now, I'll get out of your hair." With that said, the light mage took his necklace back and quickly replaced it around his neck. Once that was done, he made to leave the table.

[Nanami Touko]

"Hey," Linn said, as Hale went to leave. "Uhm... About your..." no, stop, you already learned your lesson with Zeff, "...never mind. Just, thanks. I guess."

----------

Franklin, quite pleased with his relaying of news, sat himself back onto the chair and hummed to himself. This was until the obnoxious woman from earlier sprung herself back into the inn, complaining about clothes or something or other. And so he walked over, once again, to attempt to diffuse the situation. "If it's clothes yer worried about, I can probably spring a few coins into the situation ta fix it. I take it yer also a part of this mercenary group. Well, so am I now, so I'll be more'n happy ta help my fellow fighters."

Edited November 5, 2013 by I have opinions

[Ether]

It seemed that Hale had input on Linn's situation as well, both of them, in fact. So it seemed that the wind mage had a far different connection to her magic than Elysia herself did... it did make some sense, if one was never scouted, they might never find out about their innate talents, unless something brought them to light. Peril seemed a reasonable enough time for one's inner magic to show itself.

Regardless, as Hale turned to leave, saying he would work out the details later, Linn called out to him, seemingly about to repeat her mistake from earlier... but she stopped herself. It was a step in the right direction, for now. Elysia had been about to comment on the matter, however, she was interrupted by the arrival of what looked to be a nice, hearty stew from the innkeeper. Elysia had been wondering when it would arrive, and at a normal time, might have put off attacking the meal to speak her piece... however... damn it, at this time she was exhausted and hungry and that bowl of stew was effectively a full stop for any significance the rest of the world might have had until said bowl was well and gone.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn finally managed out a tiny laugh, not expecting Elysia to start eating as rabidly as she was. "Might want to slow down there, Elysia. Wouldn't want to choke on that food." A sudden thought came to Linn, and despite what had happened earlier in the day, it would probably be better to tell Elysia now rather than later. "Listen... When your pendant got knocked off, it was open when I picked it up. I saw what was inside. It was an accident, I swear. I can forget all of it right now, if you don't want me to know, and I won't say a word to anyone, I promise!" I really hope she isn't mad... please don't be mad.

Edited November 5, 2013 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"I can't help it, I used a lot of energy earlier, I'm famished." Elysia replied, as Linn gave a slight chuckle towards the other elf's sudden ravishing of her bowl of stew. It seemed that was more of a guise than anything, for the next statement.

"I see... well, it can't be helped, I suppose... if I find out that this whole no control of your magic thing was a ruse for an excuse to knock me pendant off, I'll kick your ass myself, but... those are my parents." Elysia began, her expression growing sombre as she began.

"Or atleast they were... you remember what I said about that guy, with the tattoo? You were right... I'm going to kill him... because he killed them... he killed them, he killed everyone else at the school of magic I attended... I'm only still here because I was on my journey at the time." Elysia continued, having stopped eating about 3/4s through her meal, wiping a tear from her eye.

"That's why I have to perfect my magic... I'm all that's left of my teacher, of the legacy of teachers before him... all that's left of my kin... I have to be strong for all of them, so I can keep our name alive... and so that I can give... that man... that vile, wretched man... what's coming to him." Elysia concluded... normally at this point the room would be half-frozen, but Elysia was far too weak at the moment to do well on that supposed promise of action.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn shook her head, "no, I really am terrible at controling it. I can't imagine the precision one would need to do something like that on purpose." Linn joined in with Elysia on being somber, as she listened to her tale. It was a bit much to swallow, as she hadn't even expected to hear anything. I guess everyone's got some terrible thing that's happened to them. Zeff, Elysia, myself... "Elysia," Linn started, hesitantly putting her hand on the woman's shoulder, "I'll do my best to help you, alright? And if you find that man, I'll help you deal with him, too. I can't stand the thought of someone just... slaughtering so many of my kind, and getting away with it."