Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[Nanami Touko]

"O-Oh, hi, Aeson," she said, breaking herself out of what one could call a trance, "no, no spiders here. That was pretty funny, wasn't it? Ahhhahaha..." I think that was the most forced laugh you've ever given someone... Good Gods.

[Shin]

Aeson nodded slowly, not quite buying the laugh. "I agree, that was rather amusing." he answered. "There was also the time you began to peel an onion and it made you cry, you never did finish that! It was a shame, perhaps you have an onion you'd like to finish with?"

[Nanami Touko]

Linn had been along with Aeson long enough to understand his metaphor, and he was right. Zeff was right over there. She pondered for a moment and glared slightly at Aeson before she stood up. Everyone had been telling her to just up and apologize, and she knew she had to. It's just like taking off a bandage, you do it quick and it hurts less than pulling it off slowly. But her mind kept coming up with a bunch of scenarios of how it could go wrong, what with him still busy talking to the other women over there, if he was still upset, if she said something wrong again. So she sat back down.

"Sorry, Aeson. I don't think this onion's getting peeled any time soon," she said, with a sad smile.

[Shin]

Aeson nodded, glad to see she'd got the message. "One doesn't need to prepare onions straight away, it's often best to come back to them when needed. It gives your eyes time to dry, and to prepare the other vegetables. I do remember one time I left a radish half peeled for six months, it was in a rather sorry state when I found it!"

He knew what Linn was like, it took a lot to upset her and it was often hard for her to recover when she did. Still, she knew what needed to be done, and that was all that mattered - the method and timing could afford to be flexible. Aeson began to wonder if vegetables could do that too. Was it possible to change the order of things and have it work? The lazy spinach often needed stewing apart from its leafy comrades, did it need encouragement also?

[eclipse]

"She was. . .less than pleasant when I first met her. Take a good look at her hands the next time you're close to her. They're too rough for your average ditzy girl. Speaking of. . ." Raelyn said, as she stole a glance towards Adari. "Looks like Adari's free. Time to introduce Celine." With that, Raelyn walked off and grabbed Celine.

"What the hell--" Celine started. Raelyn responded with a glare.

"Loverboy over there said you wanted to join. I ain't the person to ask. Come." Celine cursed very audibly as her body found a couple of table edges.

"Hey, Adari, we got one more that wants to sign up," Raelyn stated flatly.

"The more I see of your group, the more--ow!" Raelyn responded to Celine by squeezing the latter's arm VERY HARD.

"Stop complainin'." With that, the less-than-happy pirate faced Adari.

[scorri]

Adari blinked and then shrugged. "Like I said. She's welcome if she wants ta join. She needs ta sign tha contract though. If ya join, yer obligated ta obey me and Andre. Ya get an even split of tha money after tha two of us take our cut and yer part of the band. If ya want ta leave, yer allowed ta but if we're about ta just start a battle, we won't take too kindly ta ya leavin. If yer still with us, sign here." She placed the contract on the table and indicated where Celine should sign.

[Vestige]

He hadn't noticed her hands having been any different, but the fact that she could use a weapon meant that it'd be much much easier for her to join. He waited for Raelyn to fetch Celine before following both of them to meet Adari. Though, he wondered why Raelyn was acting so brusque. Less than pleasant huh? I don't know whose the one being unpleasant here. However, Celine responded with her own show of roughness so he surmised everything was even at that point and decided not to comment.

If Celine still had any reservations on joining, now was the time to dispel them. "Listen, I've been with these guys for a little while. They fight honorably, and the pay is enough to get by on, at the very least. Trust me, you should join us, it's better than living by yourself on the streets. Plus, we're not the kind of people who'll keel over to 'a bunch of swords'. So you can count on me for being alive for at least a while."

[eclipse]

"If you insist," Celine said flatly to Zeff. Unsure of what else to do with the paper in front of her, she stared at it for a bit. What are these weird symbols? Rather than attempt to make any of those odd markings, she simply drew a couple of vertical lines where she was supposed to sign.

"Me? Run? HAH. If anyone's runnin', it's the enemy," Celine said, her old swagger back. Raelyn put her head in her hands and sighed.

[Vestige]

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little more at ease. At least that's taken care of. Peering over Celine's shoulder, he noted that she had a very interesting signature.

"Hey so," he said to Celine, "I didn't quite catch your name. I'm Zeff, by the way."

[eclipse]

"Name's Celine," she said gruffly. "How often do you guys sign people up before asking their name?"

[Vestige]

He laughed sheepishly and responded, "I wouldn't really know, I'm almost as new as you are."

[Nanami Touko]

That's enough pondering for now, the halfling thought, looking upon the scene in the inn and smiling. Things had worked out once again, though there was still that uneasy feeling coming from the elf woman. Nothing he could do about that; no one had asked him to help and he knew nothing of the situation. It was at this point that he spotted something he believed to be impossible, out of the corner of his eye. No, that's not right. Here, of all places? Goodness gracious! He quickly walked up to the man, smiling wide, and tugged at his arm. "Excuse me, sir. I realize this might be a bit rude, impertinent, and otherwise out of place. But are you... Are you a halflin', sir?"

[Rothene]

"Why yes!" Conan answered in good mood. Here in this place surrounded by tall people, it was reassuring to come across another adult that was finally shorter than him.

Seizing Franklin's hand, the knight gave a firm handshake and a wide grin, "Conan Mcdiarmiat's my name! You are?"

[Nanami Touko]

"My good graces, so ye are!" Franklin gladly too Conan's hand, and shook it with much vigor. Though he was much taller than Franklin (much to his chagrin), he certainly was of the same race. "Franklin, Franklin O'Donnell, friend! I'm still tryin' t'grasp another halflin' bein' here, all the way out in Celisa. What're ye doin' out here, if I can be so bold as to ask?"

[Rothene]

"Well now, I'm out here on a mission to save the souls of people! Guide away from the path of damnation and into the good graces of the shining god," Conan declared proudly as he tapped his armour with his fist, "A difficult and endless task, but one I'll just have to trust in my faith to see it through. What about you, Franklin?"

[Nanami Touko]

Oh no. The first halflin' I meet out here and he's one o' them religious folks! Franklin was smart enough as to not ruin his impression of one larger than him, so he kept his smile going. "Oh, I see. Gotta deliver the Lord's message, and all o' that good stuff, am I right? I'm simply here with this group; joined them today in the hopes of seein' some new sights and fights."

[Rothene]

Conan nodded distractedly at Franklin's reply, already somewhat lost in his vision of personal glory having just declared his self given life's work. His thoughts returning down to earth shortly, the knight continued, "There should be plenty of fighting in a mercenary band, hahaha! I hope," raising the large shield, almost as big as tall as himself, by his side, "that my steel and faith will be enough to protect all those who are weaker in the band. If you ever feel the need to, know that my shield is big and ever ready to cover all who would seek to hide behind it."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, no need ta worry over somethin' like that. I'm quicker than wind an' smaller'n everyone else here. I doubt I'll be needin' much protection, any time soon, my friend." He gave Conan a quick wink, and a small laugh, before propping himself onto a nearby stool. "I do wonder what I could do for the rest of the day. Everyone seems ta have settled down here, and I've finished my business around town. Goodness me, perhaps I should just retire to my room and think the rest of the day off. What a predicament."

[Rothene]

"Hah, maybe sing a song?" Conan suggested with a chuckle producing a flute, "I was never too much of a singer myself. But I sure can play the flute, the pipe, or any instrument that requires a nice good puff!"

Sitting on a stool, Conan raised the flute to his lips and started playing his merry folk song, 'Over the hills and down the cliffs', with nimble finger work dancing across the flute and consistent breaths blowing through the instrument. A song that resonated with the hilly nature of his home and how it ended with sheer cliffs far away facing the ocean.

[Nanami Touko]

"What luck! I know this one!"

[spoiler=That song]

Over the hills and down the cliffs
Through the woods and across the bridge

Through the valley to fight some stiffs
Over the mountain, across the ridge

The inn awaits, the inn awaits
With welcome food, on many plates


Across the sea, by boat we sail
Through the cave with lamp in hand

Although we fear, we'll never fail
To see the sights, across the land

Because
The inn awaits, the inn awaits
Through the village's open gates

The inn awaits, the inn awaits
With welcome food, on many plates!

It was a song of their people, many of them all about exploration, despite their size, into many places most men would run from. It brought another smile to Franklin's face as he sang it, having hopped off his stool to do so, propping himself back onto it as he finished. "My my, I must say, I may have judged you wrongly, Conan. At first mention of your work, I assumed you t'be just a zealot o' the church, but you've a fine hand at music! That was quite enjoyable!"

Edited November 10, 2013 by I have opinions

[Snike]

The afternoon passed into evening, the evening into night, and, soon enough, day broke over Petra once more. It seemed like it was to be another peaceful day for the Harriers. At least, for the morning. In the afternoon they would be heading off to the border fortress, with utmost haste. But for now, they had a little while longer to do what they wished.

Hale was in his corner of the inn, studying his books and notes, as per usual. Occasionally he'd look up and around the tavern, before returning his gaze to the table.

Jacob, meanwhile, was engaged in a fourth game of cards, between himself, Toqua, and Andre, surprisingly enough. What was more shocking was that Andre was completely destroying his subordinates. The newest recruit was trying to figure out how he was actually that good, as he didn't seem to be cheating.

[Nanami Touko]

Linn had not slept well. Worry and varied nightmares had either kept her awake, or woken her up for most of the night. She slowly plodded her way down the stairs, and collapsed onto a table, simply asking one of the staff for a glass of water. After hurting Elysia, yelling at Zeff, and almost revealing something no one should know to the aforementioned mage, she wasn't in the best of moods. Maybe I can start to feel better today. Maybe. That would really be great.

----------

Franklin's sleep had went amazingly! His evening full of song and talk had warmed up his spirit, and his dreams had been perfect, magical adventures through rather fresh and alive forests. The only disappointing part was waking up! Bringing himself into the foyer, he noticed something that would keep his spirits going: a lovely game of cards. "Good mornin', ye fine folk. Would ye mind if I joined ye in yer game o' cards?"

[Ether]

Making her way down the stairwell with a long yawn, Elysia looked over the other members of the Harriers as she walked... she hadn't thought she would have slept all through 'till the next morning, but it seemed she had. Making her way over to one of the occupied corners of the inn, the ice mage sat herself down next to Hale.

"You certainly seem to spend a lot of time in those papers of yours... taking notations on the progress of a new spell or something?"

[Toogee]

Normally, Chandra would have woken up well before the others in order to make breakfast. The innkeeper, however, had been insistent on serving the group, making the shaman take a rest. It was nice having a short break to recharge. With that though, a mission was coming up. Someone would have to feed the group once they were back on the road. Hence her supply run yesterday. She’d wait until closer to the afternoon before preparing in order to keep the rations as fresh as possible.

Chandra came down the stairs in her new outfit. Once again, she opted for purple as her primary color, albeit a lighter shade (lilac if you will). She wore a sleeveless silk tunic that reached halfway down her thighs. This paired with her black linen pants. This would normally be paired with a robe, but she left it upstairs.

Chandra quickly partook in the baked goods set up in the tavern for a breakfast. Looking around to see who was up, the shaman was glad to see another peaceful morning. Still, she wanted to see someone specific.

“Anyone see Rimsky around?” Chandra asked no one in particular. She was hoping to take advantage of their time off for some horse riding lessons.

[eclipse]

Raelyn's night passed as typically as any other night. She grabbed a muffin, and found a quiet spot to observe the day's happenings.

---

Celine's eyes opened slowly. She wasn't covered in sweat, nor was she hyperventilating. No one knocked on her door, asking if an intruder had broken into her room. Her blankets were halfway on the bed, as opposed to being thrown across the room. She gingerly rubbed her eyes, and allowed herself a small smile. She'd slept through the night without disturbing anyone else. Perhaps this group ain't so bad after all. The warm sunlight from the window called to her. The first few people ambled along the village roads. Some stopped to greet a familiar face; others obliviously walked past each other. Freshly-hung clothes danced slowly in the wind. As she silently looked down upon those beneath her window, her stomach gave an audible roar. The scent of baked goods begged her to part from the window. Reluctantly, she turned towards the door, and down the stairs. I wonder how that horse is doing? she thought to herself, as she idly chewed on a biscuit.