Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[eclipse]

"I seemed to have hit a sore spot," Raelyn observed. "I knew she had it bad, but I didn't realize the trauma was that fresh! Her willingness to fight, though. . .that doesn't seem to stem from that." She took a deep breath. "Oh, my apologies! My name's Raelyn. If you want to try to calm her down, you can. I'll need to wait until she stops crying, at least. You seem like a talkative one? Didja get a chance to chat with the rest of the group?"

[Ether]

When Caslan appeared, Linn seemed noticeably awkward... it was obvious she was trying to keep what happened earlier from their fellow elf... problem was it was just way too obvious. She really needed to work on that... still, that conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone getting slapped, followed by yelling across the room. Seemed it was the same girl as earlier, along with the same Harrier, well... harrying her.

"That's the same one from earlier, huh? Raelyn sure seems to have her hands full." Elysia noted to the two other elves.

[Rothene]

"Oh really? If there's nothing much to the book, then it is more worrying. I mean, people read books to learn more after all," Caslan answered with a slight chuckle as he reached for his stew that just arrived, "Oh, and Joey's fine now I think. It's sleeping like nothing bad acutually transpired."

There was something in Linn's tone that hinted something was wrong, even for the usually oblivious Caslan. The usual cheeriness was also quite obviously artificial this time round. He debated with himself if Linn actually wanted to keep what troubled her to herself or that she was actually giving him a strong hint to ask about it. His train of thought was thankfully interrupted by Celine's outburst. Well, I should probably ask about it later, when there's less company I guess.

"What do you mean the same one?" Caslan asked Elysia, deciding that a topic not directly related to any of them would be a good idea. There seems to be a palpable gloomy atmosphere on the table, and the elven mage wanted it gone.

[Ether]

"Earlier, that same girl that just slapped Raelyn and ran off was causing trouble, too. Threatened to brain some guy with her axe over nothing." Elysia replied to Caslan's query.

"No one's safe from that sort of thing anymore, huh? What a bloody time we live in."

[Vestige]

"I thought you were my friend, but you're just some two faced snake"

"That person you lost? Yeah, I'm glad you lost them"

Those words that Linn had yelled at him earlier, they kept repeating in his head. Was he angry at her for what she said, or angry at himself for bringing someone to the point where they would say such things. Was it really a question of why he was trying to hide a 'simple' gauntlet, or rather an issue of trust. Was this what Hale meant when he said that nothing good came from detachment?

"they deserved better than whatever you are!!"

It had come to a point where he himself didn't know what he was. Who was I back then? And what am I now...? He kept cycling through the same words over and over. Asking himself the same questions again and again, unable to produce any answers. Why...why is it so hard for me to trust people? He thought of Hale, and why he had divulged such a great deal to him. Perhaps it was easier because Hale was a man who had suffered just as much as he himself. Is that all there is for me? To connect to someone based on empathy and that alone?

What am I...supposed to do? Having been lost in his thoughts for so long, he hadn't realized he had bumped into someone on his way back to the inn. "Oh sorry kid, I-" He stopped himself when he noticed she was sobbing. Kneeling down in front of her, he spoke "Hey, what's the matter? Why are you out here by yourself, are you lost or something? I might be able to walk you home, if you'd like..."

[Nanami Touko]

Linn decided to ignore what was happening at the door; it reminded her far too much of her earlier out burst and it wasn't helping her thoughts. I don't know why I'm getting embarrassed over the book anyway, and it's a good conversation change. "W-Well, yes, I'm not reading nothing, I'm... Well, you can go ahead and look. I guess it is sort of embarrassing. It shouldn't be, though, it's just another form of magic. Although a more...physical form." She set the book on the table, and hid her face in her hands, peeking between her fingers to watch the two.

----------

"Aye, I'll do my best! Well met, Raelyn, and I sure have spoken to the rest! You're the most diverse and wonderful band of mercenaries I've had the pleasure of bandin' together with! Now, I'll be right back, that's a promise." Franklin rushed himself out of the door, and quickly (and quietly) followed after Celine. He was waiting for a moment to speak to her, when another man got the jump in on her. Oh ho! Perhaps this will get interestin'. Best to just watch, for now. Don't want to ruin the moment, if there's goin' to be one.

[Ether]

"A book on magical dances, huh?" Elysia replied, as Linn set the book down on the table. She had recalled seeing several dancers of that sort back at home, though truth be told, she didn't know much about the subject... considering that she herself had done a slight of dancing along her journey, it was a somewhat interesting subject for her. Picking the book up and opening it to a random page, residing near the end of the publication, caused Elysia's face to turn a rather bright red after a few moments of reading.

"A-ah... I see... why you might be embarrassed by that... hehe, well, I'll just... leave you two uninterrupted then, don't mind me." Elysia managed, stammering a tad at first but recovering fairly well, as she stood up from her chair and decided to follow the interesting happenings outdoors, placing the book down on the table, still open at the page she had managed to fluster herself with.

'For elves they're a bit... young... for that sort of thing, aren't they? Well, it's not my business, I suppose.'

[eclipse]

"Home," Celine said bitterly, through her tears. "I don't have a home," she snapped, looking up at the newcomer. "And WHY do you care?"

[Nanami Touko]

Linn watched Elysia turn red, wondering if the topic really was that embarrassing. It's just dancing, what's the problem? Linn picked up the book herself, and turned a similar shade of red before tossing it to the other end of the table, and sinking into her chair. "W-Well, I..." she started, as her hand made its way to her face, "I hadn't thought of that, I'll be honest." Her mind started processing the information, though she quickly yelled at it to stop, hiding her face entirely within her hands. "I may have to remove those pages if I'm actually going to finish the rest of this."

[Vestige]

"Oh...Well..."

As per her second question, he didn't really have an explanation. Why? Because why not? Wasn't it normal to feel bad for someone who was crying? "Why do I care...? Well, see, uh..." He was stammering quite a bit. "Ahem. Well...see, there's this girl he said," diving into a seemingly unnecessary explanation for something that was psychologically basic. "Aaaand, I may have not really cared for her. So she started crying and," he laughed a bit "I don't exactly like seeing girls cry, y'know? So...I thought that maybe if I cared about you, you might stop crying."

That seemed like a pretty legitimate explanation.

"But...about your home. I-well. About that...I've lost something myself. You could say that after losing it, my home stopped feeling like home. So...I...I kind of know what it feels like to not have a home. If only a little."

"I can't promise I'll be able to help you, but..." he bit his lip, "if you tell me what's wrong you might feel better about it. Plus, I'll give you some money so you can go buy yourself something nice. That sounds like a fair deal, right?"

[Rothene]

"Magical dances?" Caslan commented, the idea surprising him. He might have heard that such techniques of spellcasting existed, but seemed unimportant back then. And perhaps it still remained so but he was rather curious about it now that an actual book existed before him. He was about to ask Elysia to pass him the book when she was done looking through it when the Elysia promptly turned red, and placed the book down, not a very motivating sign, or was it?

Okaaaay, what has Linn been reading? Caslan thought but unfortunately before he could read in detail what Elysia was looking at, in no small part because he had to read the texts upside down due to sitting opposite the two of them, Linn grabbed the book a tossed it away.

"Hey! What? Why?" Caslan yelled as he ran for the book and picked it up. Whatever page Linn and Elysia had been looking at was now lost among the many pages within the book. Reading from a random page near the beginning, Caslan thought, Erm, ok, interesting theories? Sounds much more complicated and difficult to pull off than memorising incantations.

"Wow, these seem hard to pull off," Caslan stated as he looked through the, significantly less extreme examples compared to the random page Elysia had turned to. "Interesting ideas though, I don't know what's so upsetting about these? Sure, they're more complicating that incantations, but learning new stuff is what we young generation elves are supposed to do. I approve of your interests Linn, don't let some other mage's opinion cloud your own. I thought you're the kind of person who will pursue your own path no matter other people's opinion. Well...that's what I like about you, as well as that cheery outlook of yours."

Handing the book back to Linn, Caslan put his arm around her and continued, "Hey, you've been oddly less happy lately what's wrong?"

[Nanami Touko]

That's...not what I'm red about, Caslan, Linn thought, sighing as the man missed the point. He didn't see the page though, so she didn't blame him. She even smiled at his compliment, and the arm, not expecting him to have gotten so close. That smile faded though, as he started asking why she wasn't as cheery. Come on Linn, pull your best poker face, you can totally convince him that everything's fine. She mustered all of what she had left inside of her and pulled out as close of a trademark pleasant smile as she could. "I'm fine, just tired. Nothing for you to worry about, alright? I do need to go ask Elysia about that page, though..." she said, as she slipped out from under his arm and walked after the girl, quickly mouthing 'help me, please' at her.

----------

Meanwhile, Franklin watched, and did his best to listen, to Zeff's attempts at consoling the girl. A fair point, lad, though I'm not sure she's in the best of moods to listen to it! From the sounds of it, you don't seem to be in the best of moods either! What a startlin' development this it.

Edited November 7, 2013 by I have opinions

[Ether]

Having made her way outside, it didn't take very long for Elysia's weariness to kick in, halting whatever attempts she might have made at making it any farther. Sidling her way over to a nearby window, the ice mage looked in on Caslan and Linn... from what she had heard of the other girl's response, she might not have known what lie deeper within the tome she had found, but Elysia was still curious as to what the pair would do when they were absent a third wheel. After all, they were two full-blooded elves that had been there before she had, and seemed fairly close... perhaps Linn had known the full contents of that book and had intentions for it, afterall?

'It's just a silly book, really... so why am I so worked up over it...?' Elysia wondered to herself, as her gaze kept flickering from the pair talking to looking more specifically at that damned book. She just couldn't get that passage she had read out of her head, and it was starting to drive her mad with what she refused to admit was curiosity, but we all know that's totally what it was.

Of course, in her self-induced daze, Elysia hadn't noticed that Linn was no longer sitting at the table... she might have been in for a rather rude awakening, it would seem.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

"Elysia!" Linn whispered, as loudly as she could, following the woman out, "seriously, I don't know what to do. First he gave me a compliment and then he put his arm around me and that was fine and all but then he asked if I was alright and I can't tell him what happened because I don't want him to get upset at Zeff because it was my fault anyway and I don't want him to worry because he's already had to deal with Joey today and he doesn't need that on his mind and I just made the most awkward exit I've ever made in my entire life and--" she stopped to catch her breath, trying to calm down. "Why is life so hard?"

[Ether]

As her name was called out by a familiar voice, Elysia jumped up in surprise, and seeing Linn right next to her, the ice mage's face became blanched red once again. Her own surprise, coupled with the fact that Linn had basically machine-gunned her life story at the poor girl, left Elysia even more confused than she had been already.

"H-huhwhat? I-I wasn't thinking about that b-book, I swear! I just, I uhh... I d-don't really know anything about that sort of stuff and I guess I just can't get it out of my head but I'm totally not wondering what it said next or anything like that na-uh no way I-" Elysia stammered, before the rapid fire response mechanism generated by her nervousness stopped functioning, and well... her nervousness itself started functioning again.

'I didn't just say that. I didn't, did not happen no way it happened it couldn't have happened oh my what did I just say?'

[Nanami Touko]

"Wha-- the book? Why are you still thinking about that? Why would you be thinking about that after what I said anywa--" Linn's mind jumped to a very wrong conclusion, in her exasperated state, and turned slightly red. Taking a step back she tried to formulate the words, "w-well, Elysia I mean, I like you, just...not like that, sorry."

[Ether]

It was as though time stopped, as Linn rejected a proposal of steamy forbidden love between the two women... of course, such a proposal had never actually happened, and had left Elysia stunned where she now sat on the ground, looking up at Linn with an entirely confused look on her face. After several moments of an incredibly awkward silence, Elysia's lips began to move, ready to deliver their ultimatum, one that would change the lives of both these girls, forever more.

"What kind of idiot are you, exactly?"

[Nanami Touko]

Linn sighed, and collapsed next to Elysia, almost ready to laugh. "A special kind of idiot, I guess. Sorry. Really, I am. Anyway, uhm... I still have no idea about what to do with Caslan in the inn, there. If you have any advice-- not related to the book --I'd appreciate it."

[Ether]

"Actually... you kind of startled me when you called out to me... I didn't hear a word you said about that..." Elysia admitted somewhat sheepishly, as she gave Linn an apologetic smile.

[Nanami Touko]

"Right," Linn started, collapsing onto her back. "Caslan gave me a compliment. Put his arm around me. Asked why I was down. This is where it gets awkward," she said as she sat herself back up, not exactly enjoying the feeling of the ground against her back. "I...lied straight to his face, said I was fine, and made my escape. And now I'm here. Hi." Linn said, with a most confused smile on her face, half between sadness and frustration.

[Rothene]

Maybe putting your arm around Linn was not the best of ideas Caslan, thought the elven mage when Linn left. It was something he had seen parents do to their children, friends to friends, family to family and so fort when they seemed down or stressed out. Or maybe it was just the question he asked at the end. Should have trusted the gut feeling the first time round.

Without much else to do, and a rapidly cooling stew before him, Caslan pulled the stew over to his end of the table and began eating. Remembering that Linn had left to ask Elysia about matters regarding the book, he decided that it was one of those times when girls just want their privacy among themselves that his siblings and female mages back in the tribe isolate themselves away from all the males to just sit down and chat for a long while and did not want to be disturbed. It certainly was more productive than what some of the male tribe members do, such as standing out under the hot desert sun for hours and see who's left standing, which Caslan would cheat every so often if he bothered to take part by magically regulating the ambient water vapour around him to keep himself hydrated.

The thought made him think about home, the tribe and family. Musing about the past, Caslan slowly found the stew more appetizing than it actually was when flavoured with delicious memories of long years past.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Rothene

[Ether]

"It sounds like he cares a lot about you... I guess it depends on what you want him to know. You can keep the whole thing with Zeff under wraps and try to sort it out on your own, you could ask him what he thinks about and get his advice on it... I don't think he'd get too mad at you over an embarrassed fib, it depends on what you do about it... of course, I'm no expert on people's feelings, so... you might be better off not listening to me..." Elysia replied, not quite sure how to help Linn with her predicament.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn scrunched up her face and ruffled a hand through her hair, before finally groaning in despair. "Feelings are hard. Things were never this hard back at the p--" Linn froze. Her eyed went wide. You didn't say that. Quick. Now. Different word. NOW. "Back with my parents. Back in the woods. It was much easier to get by, and I never had to deal with any of these situations. I guess I'm grateful for the life experience, but...if it leaves you feeling this down and drained, I dunno how often I want it."

[Ether]

"Feelings are hard until you sort them out... then they become the most beautiful thing in the world." Elysia stated abruptly, her expression entirely serious, as she looked Linn straight in the eye.

"Heh, one of the older students used to say that... it makes sense, don't you think?" Elysia replied... it seems Linn had hit one of her own triggers, but until the girl was willing to open up of her own accord, Elysia may as well have heard nothing at all.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn became very worried for a moment when Elysia gave her a serious stare, but it turned out she was just talking about their discussion, and so she sighed relief. "I guess so. I really just want things to go back to how they were, when we were all laughing and smiling around a kitchen, just making food. That was just a day ago, how did things change so quickly? It doesn't really make much sense to me... I wonder where Zeff is now?"