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Terra had to think quickly, so not to suggest she was lying...

"Oh well you see the king and queen allowed people in and out of the castle freely to talk to them about business and such. My dad was a Knight so we spent plenty of time visiting the castle and he always to me with him..."

She sirred the soup and tried to change the subject...

"soups almost ready...What about you where do you come from?"

Terra scoffed, at the comments about the mountain and 'just wanting to come here'

"I bet you've heard the ledge of the white wizard that never lives in the same spot twice? and he supposedly lives here? some old lady told me about it on the way here...I suppose you expect us to find him and you can ask him of your past?...I'm not saying hes not here im just saying i doubt he wants us to find him if he where...Oh well so be it, we can white wizard hunting although i forget his name..."

Terra didn't believe in wizards she prefers to call them magic meddlers. since they used a power not that stable...

OOC: i don't know since school messed it up and my maths class are sitting all the wrong exams O.o and i don't mind I'll let you decided all about Elohim...

Terra poured the soup evenly into two bowls she had set beside the fire... she passed a bowl towards Joeye and moved slightly closer to the fire. Terra felt the circlet seem ti weight heaver on her head and shifted her fringe to once again hide it slightly...She took a spoon from her pack and sipped some of the soup, before answering...

"As for his name, well im not sure but it was probably something like that...I'm not sure perhaps i seek help with something, perhaps i seek truth. to be honest my travels are a way of life now, i suppose i see this as one more adventure..."

more lies where spoken by Terra once again not being completely truthful to Joeye. Terra had never intended to visit the white wizard, she had other things to do but now she felt compelled too...

Angel smiled at Red Shadow. "So what do you do?" Red Shadow smiled back and spoke. "I am a mercenary, bound to no master but gold. I have no purpose in life but to serve those who pay me money to do their dirty work." Angel looked lost in thought but spoke up. "You don't feel as if you need to serve a higher purpose?" Red Shadow sounded a bit sad as he spoke. "I lost my purpose a long time ago, Angel. It is something that I am ashamed of and wish never to speak about." He said with a note of melancholy in his voice. "Maybe there will be something that I can do about it in the near future but right now I am trying to avoid the assassins that have been sent to kill me." Angel sat up suddenly and looked around. "I must be going now, I have some bussiness to attend to that I almost forgot about. I shall see you again sometime?" Red Shadow nodded and with that Angel left.

Joeye did not miss the sadness in Terra as she talked about Mera. "Two years? That's such a long time to be away from home." She could not imagine herself being away from home for two years. At the same time, it also felt like a lifetime has passed since she woke up in her own bed for the last time.

She took her time sipping her soup again. "But freedom is good," she continued, forcing cheerfulness in her voice. She didn't feel particularly cheerful at the prospect of being away from her home any longer than she had to. She had a feeling Terra probably had it worse off. "I mean, we can do whatever we want. We don't have to follow any rules. We can..." her voice trailed off and she slumped. Breaking the rules wasn't that fun anyway. She didn't like being an outlaw, being frightened that her connection to the pawnshop murders would be found out.

Terra forced a smile onto her lips but only her eyes lied, the talk of Mera mad her realise just how pointless this seemed to be, and now she had a stupid circlet stuck to her head, and was heading up and mountain to see a white wizard that she couldn't prove exsisted. Well didn't that sounded logical.

"Yes Freedom is something to treasured; but when breaking rules you have to be careful, one wrong rule and you could end up in exile or chains or with a nose round your neck...But onto happier subject i think..."

Terra shivered at the thought; she had only seen one person hang, and that was in her brothers early stages of madness. He had a murderer sentanced to death. Terra had pleaded that one killing for another is not correct and the man should be left in jail but her brother was up for and old fashioned hanging the whole town was forced to watch. It mad Terra sick to think about it; Terra was a archer and was taught to aim to kill but she took death somewhat seriously she would only kill a animal to sruvive when desprate and when in battle she would only kill as a last resort, she preferd to wound and then capture or run.

ooc:Holy hera... I had major wirter's block... and then I just plain accidently put this at the back of my mind... ^^;; Well... I'm back.... hopefully..... off too find the shiney!!

Without much remaining in his pack, Dapon was making incredible time, running from place to place, coming ever closer to the home he once had. His excitement was growing with every passing hour, coming almost to a state of absolute euphoria when he spied the extreme outskirts of the village just off the riverbend not far ahead. Just a little further and he could track her down, and never let her go. Never again.

As the moon rose to its height, Dapon slowed to a stop, thinking. One more night could not hurt. After all, he had not even told anyone he was on his way back, and as it stood now, he would not arrive until closer to dawn. Besides, those people living in the outskirts did not know him well, if at all, and might not let him pass in the night. He sighed, and dropped to the ground, drifting into an uneasy sleep almost immediately.

He awoke to the sounds of several whispering statements. He refrained from opeing his eyes for the moment, though he could feel the sun warm on his skin, evaporating the early morning dew that had collected there, simply listening to the villagers concerns, trying to figure out who this vaguely familiar stranger was.

One concern caught his attention. Not far off his left side was a woman whispering to her friend, or maybe it was a sister. "You don't think he's from the East too?"

His eyes snapped open at that, his entire features obviously frantic. Several villagers, including the two women and the man leaning over him jumped back out of surprise. His dark eyes focused on the women as he pulled himself fully up, leaving his pack in its resting place as he approached them. "What about the East?" he said in a hushed tone. Was he too late? "What has happened?"

The woman who had asked was the younger of the two, and she looked even more scared than the other. She opened her mouth to speak, though the man that was leaning over him cut across her. "Who are you, stranger? And why have you come here?--"

Dapon spun on his heel, looking almost angrily at the man behind him. He must have looked danderous, because the man stopped his interragation instantly. "I am from this village. I came back to find someone." He turned back to the two women. "How what about the East?"

"Hey!" said the older of the women. "I know you now! You're Dapon, right? Number 11?"

He jumped, turning his focus entirely on her. "Yes," he said simply, his voice getting even more frustrated.

She laughed triumphantly, grinning at the scared woman. "It's Aliana. Remember me? 5?" Most of the other villagers were relaxing a bit, remembering this first of firsts. Never before had someone left the village on his own for such a long time. They were a pretty close nit community after all. And now here he was. Returned after all this time. "This is my little cousin Merideth. Don't know if you remember her at all, but she jsut got her name last year!..."

He rolled his eyes, turning around and returning to his pack, picking it up and throwing it over his shoulder, ignoring the villagers as they were all talking excitedly about him. "Look, Aliana, Merideth. I have NOT been here for two years. I want to know what's going on. What happened with the EAST!?" his voice raised in volume, though not quite to a yell as of yet.

Aliana stopped for a moment and thought. "It was nothing that bad, Dapon," she said, picking up on his concern immediately. "Just some guy from the East Village came a couple weeks ago and talked to some girl in central area into coming with him. We heard either he or someone else was coming back soon."

He breathed a soft sigh of relief and walked away from the group around him, picking up his speed into a trot once more. 'At least that dream has not come to pass... yet...' he thought. I should probably take Kuri away before anything does happen... especially if the East is invovled...'

After about 30 minutes of trotting he slowed to a walk. Central was going to be a bit busier than normal on a day like today, and being recognized and having to explain his reasons and way through the crowds was the last thing he wanted to do now. He just wanted to get to her place. He ducked into a small alleyway and opened his bag. Rummaging around, his hands brushed her letter, and a smile crossed his face, his excitement creeping up on him once more. He shook it off, and pulled out a long cloak he had used this past winter. Taking care to wrap it around and distract the light from his face, he pulled it on before picking up his pack and walking back out into the village.

It was probably a pretty good idea to disguise himself, however slightly, for as he was tracing his way back into town, he saw several people that he knew, and several more that he was sure would recognize him. He pressed onward, looking for her familiar home.

Finally. There it was. He was far enough out of the main part of town that he was not as likely to have that many people fawning over him, so he pulled the cloak off and stuffed it back into his pack. He took a deep breathe and walked briskly up to the door, beaming positively ear to ear, raising his hand to pound on her never forgotten door. But it swung open before he got the chance to even start.

The young man there was yelling something back into the house, clutching a pretty heavy book in his hands, and did not even see him for a moment. "Amal?" he asked, recognizing the young man's mini-tail, posture, and papercutted fingers instaneously.

He jumped and turned around, his jaw dropping at the recogniztion of the voice. "Who the---?" he paused, seeing his best friend's goofy smile beneath this new exterior. "Dapon?" he asked.

Dapon nodded, his scarlet and blonde locks swaying over his forehead as he did so. "How have you been!?"

"Who is it, Amal?" a soft voice called from within. An old woman pulled the door open the rest of way, and her greying eyes fell upon him. "Oh my.." she said, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind her. She was still as tiny a woman as ever, but in these surroundings, between these two rather tall men, she seemed smaller than usual. "Hello Dapon," she said, her voice turning almost flirtateous, taking off her thick glasses and wiping them on her apron.

"Hey Shrinan," he said simply, ignoring the change in her tone as though he had been for nearly all his life. He looked down on he, smiling that goofy smile, grateful that they still lived here. That meant she did as well, unless she had gotten married or just stopped living with her guardian mother. "Is Kuri here?" he asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

Both Shrinan and Amal shook their heads simotaneously. "She's in the market," Shrinan said simply, her blue-grey eyes sparkling slightly. "Won't you come in?"

Dapon chuckled softly, thinking fast. He had not seen her there when he was walking through, but then again, he had been paying that much attention either. "I think I'm going to go find her first," he said simply, turning to start back down the walk. "I'll have to come back later though.I remember your treats were to die for!"

Without another word, he walked back down the path and back into the dirt street. Behind him though, he heard Shrinan try the door handle, and turn to her son, "Do you have the key?" Dapon laughed, pulling his cloak out once more, still just wanting to find her before anyone else saw him.

He pushed his way back through the marketplace, scanning the crowds slowly, not wanting to miss her again. After a few minutes, his eyes caught a glimpse of white-blonde hair sparkling in the rising sun not far from him. There! Sitting on one of the benches near the river, her back to the street. He got closer, and froze, seeing the devastated look on her paler than normal face. There was a young man standing across from her, looking almost angry.

"Well now," he man said, his voice low and quiet, almost hissing at her. "You made a promise, Kuri. And you will uphold it, one way or another."

"I won't do it!" she said, standing up, her devastation turning to anger in one swift movement. Her delicate hands clenched into fists of rage, she continued, "Even if it KILLS me I can't!"

ooc:well... I just wanted him to see her again? (probably tomorrow) I actually cut it off alot earlier than I had wanted to... lol ^^;; Sorry its soo long!!!

OOC: I know I've been writing alot in these last few posts... I'm just trying to move my character along... as he is alone, and pretty far behind. The posts will most likely get shorter in the future.

"What the hell!" the stranger yelled, glaring up at this cloaked newcomer. He pulled himself to a standing position, clutching his now broken nose as this adversary lowered his leg to the ground.

Even Kuri herself seemed completely shocked. Just moments before, this man had been too far from her to do much good with helping her. She held her arm close to her, backing away slowly. In every sense in her mind, the situation was telling her to leave before things got worse. Agaisnt her better judgement, she remained.

His scarlet eyes remained on the stranger, encased in what seemed to be pure and utter and hatred. "You will not lay one single finger on her," he hissed, his voice unrecognizable, even to Kuri, the girl who had known him for most of her life.

The stranger just stared at him, wishing nothing more than to get out of there. His eyes narrowed, looking over Dapon's shoulder at Kuri. "I won't lift it," he said quietly. "You will retrieve it for me, or you will die. Simple as that." With that he turned on his heel and walked off as calmly as he could.

Dapon rolled his eyes as he straightened up, turning to face her, alone at last. Before he could even turn most of way around, he felt the cloak begin to pull away, slowly at first, due to its tightness around himself, then swiftly as it dropped to the patched ground.

As she fell silent, he took a single step around his fallen cloak, and pulled her into a tight, but tender hug. How he had longed for this, since the day he had read that letter that first time. If he had not come when he did, who know what could have happened to her.. even to the extent of that dream. "I missed you Kuri.." he said, his voice free of that nasty hissing that was there when that stranger was there.

No embrace was returned though, but two delicate hands pressed firmly on his chest, and back from him. She looked up at him, still rather short compared to him, and of course, he had grown in these last years. She still looked taken aback, and her voice coould not find words to speak to him.

Dapon stepped back, dropping his arms to his side, feeling hurt, though he did well to mask it. His own scarlet eyes traced her face, wishing he knew what she was thinking.

Her face though, suddenly changed from its look of surprised sadness to one of misbelieving anger. "Where the hell have you been!?!" she demanded, playfully punching him hard as she could in his stomach.