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Dax's narrowed eyes had snapped over to the other prince, his lips tightened into a slight scowl. Always with Sayael and his laid-back teasing. That's what got to him the most.. but truthfully, it was something that made their relationship work. Even through that small bit of time he was separated from the group, the Ice Prince came to realize that their childish bickering was something he'd come to miss. But he wouldn't go as far as to admit that.

"There better not be bugs in this bed," he said, finally settling his own head down onto his pillow before mumbling- ".. Night, Sayael."

[[Hey, I moved into college today, Sona did too, and although I can't speak for her I know I'll be pretty busy over the next few days~ =w=;; -goes back to lurking-]]

Alti and Red had talked quite the long time. The pale teen had no idea how much time had passed since they first began conversing -- time seemed of little matter, as did everything else. But what he did know was that both he and his newly found father were steadily growing hoarse from having talked too much. As they finally reached a concluding point in their current subject of conversation, the older of the two pales reached out one large, tanned hand and layed it gently, but firmly, upon his son's shoulder, a small smile on his lips.

"Let us rest our voices a bit... enjoy the festival. We can talk more tonight..." Alti nodded slowly, his orange eyes showing a surprising softness. For how long had he hardened himself to all others, shown nothing but cold eyes and cold shoulders?

And so after paying their bill, the pair set out into the festival. They roamed from booth to booth with a careless happiness -- that is, until Alti's eyes fell upon a small child, who's finger was bleeding slightly. He was crying. Just then, a woman -- probably his mother -- layed a bandage upon it, kissed it, and picked him up.

Blood... That red color was sparking something it the teen's mind. "Father, I.... I forgot about my friend!" he exclaimed, bright eyes wide. Blood. Haar. Haar had been bleeding, and he was probably badly hurt, and if the stupid man died then... well, Alti didn't know what he'd do, but it couldn't be dead if his only... his... his friend died. After all, he was the only friend -- if he could be called that -- that Alti had.

Red nodded slowly. "Shall I meet you back at the inn?" he asked. Alti nodded furvently, gave his father a quick and rather akward hug and a smile, and he then rushed off. Just... just where was Haar?

After having run some distance, he stopped, panting slightly. It was useless to run when he didn't know where he was going. Where... could Haar be? And it was then that Alti remembered one of the assets to having Storms blood: finding magic. Magic of the wind was, of course, incorperated in Storms magic, and part of that was finding..... And Alti reckoned that he had known the other long enough to have enough of a connection to Haar for the magic to work. At least, he hoped.

He let his eyes fall shut a moment, drawing to mind an image of the commander's face, his voice, and manner, muttering several words under his breath as he did so. He had a handkerchief in his pocket, and he took that out and began arranging it until it looked very much like a butterfly -- the easiest shape to create. With that, he spoke several words into the folded cloth before pricking the index finger of his right hand and the thumb of his left, pressed a drop from each onto the otherwise unmarred whiteness of the cloth, and sent it away with a huff of breath.

The handkerchief butterfly flapped its wings experimentally as it rose on the updraft of Alti's artificial wind, seeming to get its bearings for several moments before it shot off in one direction. Alti set off after it, a smile settling upon his lips. It had worked! Sometime Alti wasn't so great with that spell.... The real question would be if it would find the right person.


What must have been at least half an hour later, the spelled handkerchief led him to the door of the healer's. Its duty done, it unfolded itself and fluttered down towards the teen, who caught it deftly. The two bloodstains had faded from the cloth, used up by the magic. Panting heavily, he paused a moment, hands on knees, to catch his breath, his eyes roaming round himself. It was a healer's. That, at least was fortunate -- it meant that Haar had had sense enough to heal himself. But then, it also meant that Haar had been in bad enough condition to allow someone to heal him.

The dark-haired teen sighed slowly and then straightened up, his breathing still rather heavy, the sweat still glistening on his brow. But he had to know if Haar was in there. He reahced forward and gently knocked on the door. Somewhere in the time when he had been running, he had completely forgotten his weakness, his only rescent recovery. It seemed, however, that his body had been much strengthened -- else he'd not have been able to make the run. Perhaps the emotional healing of meeting his father had taken away some of that physical weakness.....

((EDIT:

loooooooooooooooong. D: *dies*))

"Y-yes, thank you..." he stammered, obviously out of breath. He really hadn't waited long enough to regain his usual composure. "Is... is..." he began -- but he couldn't say Haar's name, they probably wouldn't know that... with the commander's condition, he had probably just collapsed at the door or something like that and been taken in. "Is there... a... a man in here with brown hair and a really bad gash in his stomach and... oh, I don't know -- he probably tried to refuse healing or something like that, I mean....." THe run -- and perhaps his once more surfacing concern -- was making his speach rather imcomprehensible. "--Ahh, just... nevermind. Did a Fire native come in here with a messed up side and face and... I don't know, collapse or something?" he asked, concern and worry eating away at both his voice and appearance at having suddenly remembered just how bad a condition Haar was in.

The teen sighed slowly and raised a hand to tuck dark locks out of his bright orange eyes, the orbs moving from the other's face to his own feet and then past the older man into the room, as if hoping to catch some view of the commander.

((At first, he was going to say, "an ill-tempered man who probably refused healing but was too beat up to refuse for long" but I don't think even Alti would do many personal attacks at a time like this. 8D;;; ))

[[Holycraponastick. I've been busy. sorry, guys. especailly to tato. I went on vacay to Alaska and then moved straight into school... so life's been crazy. <3 I'll try to be more on top of this soon...]]

Ruehl paged quietly through the menu at the table before selecting an entree that sounded easy on his stomach. What in the heavens had happened to his favored Commander? A facade of a smile played over his lips to the perky waitress as he ordered and thanked her, handing over the menu.

Finally, bright green eyes settled on the lavender-haired man across from him. "I feel badly. You shouldn't have to work during the festival. It's... it's very much appreciated, however. You're a good man, Ceris," he praised as drinks were delivered.

[[@Sona: Don't apologize woman, I haven't had time either. I shouldn't be role playing right now. Well, I think I've earned a break, I do still have to read stuff for tomorrow but I only have like two things left and one's due Thurs. while the other's due Tuesday, so it's not urgent and I've already finished half the Tuesday one... I'll read English/Monday stuff in a bit...]]

Haar's expression faded from near glee at finding his shirt folded up on one of the few chairs in the inner room as he realized just what the older cleric was telling Alti. He knew people were always more careful when releasing information concerning him, the generals, or any of the nobility, but the boy appeared as he were to bawl any second, couldn't the cleric give him a break?

"I'm perfectly fine," he half-growled at the cleric who turned with a guilty expression as he buttoned up the front of his shirt, ignoring the dried blood on the cuffs. He knew it wasn't recognizable because the shirt was such a dark color but it left the cuffs fairly stiff and unpleasant. "Do you know this boy?" The healer asked, shying away from a piercing red glare as he moved to let the storms-native inside. "I was simply making sure he was a friend of your's," the healer murmured in explanation as he scurried off to another room, leaving the young lady to watch over their easily angered patient.

Taking a few steps forward, Haar frowned a bit at the boy, "Is something wrong?" He asked, assuming there had to be some sort of tragedy for the boy to come and find him.

Haar eyed the boy with something close to a smirk, but not quite so potent, "Well, tell your mother I'm in better condition than I have been in months," he said before continuing, "And make sure to note, and feel free to quote this, that no son-of-a-b***h will ever kill me with just a few good throws." Brushing away shaggy brown hair from glassy eyes, the commander shifted a bit towards the young cleric, who was trying her best to keep out of the soldier's personal affairs. "I was lucky to find such a skilled healer though," he explained as he sat down in a nearby chair, gesturing for Alti to follow suit as he held a hand to his mouth, pressing a fingertip to the gash, testing it's sensitivity before glancing up at the boy at the mention of good news.

"As long as you don't tell me you're pregnant, then any news of your's is fine with me," he said with a teasing grin, playing on the fact that many people assumed the storms-native to be a girl rather than his true gender.

"You did? Wow, that's...That's great, I mean..." He didn't really know what to say. "It's sort of crazy, you know? To meet him in a crowd of people of all places, but that's wonderful. I'm-- I'm glad you found him. Guess you won't be needing any fire lessons from me. I suppose it's for the best, I don't think we've had much luck with your training," he said in a softer tone, red eyes set on the floor, "Anyway," he started up again, settling crimson eyes on the teen, "Did he seem...nice?"

"I'm starting to doubt former impossibilities. Blame your mother next time you see her," he said with a hint of a smile, listening carefully to the description of features and finally the boy's father's name. "Red Kross? I know of a Kross family, their history goes way back in the kingdom, but... it's probably safe to say I don't know any of them personally," he murmured, "I...My family is not...nobility and although I've been able to interact with that part of society now that I'm commander, I haven't had much time to do so," he explained with an almost embarrassed expression. He didn't enjoy talking about his family's status or heritage mainly because he ended up getting questions surrounding his parents' deaths...

"Well, you can't really blame the crazy woman, she tried her best...she just was protective and wanted you to be happy. She just...wasn't very good at judging what exactly would make you happy," he said, feeling a bit of sympathy for Allora. She had healed him after all.

"I suppose you'll be meeting with him later?" He asked, rubbing at the thin scar under his eye in nervous habit. "Do you think you'll...live with him?" He asked, jumping to a conclusion the two probably hadn't even gotten the chance to discuss. Haar hadn't been made aware of Ruehl's earlier temper tantrum in which he banned the boy from the fire nation in it's entirety, so the thought of entering the kingdom's borders probably wasn't a good one.