Welcome to Gaia! ::

((heh, yeah, slightly. x3 but it is her home, and probably the most mild tempered between the older ones.))

Abel nodded, but stayed silent as he exited to join Aida. His breath was still ragged and ripping through his chest at an unhealthy speed. Well maybe unhealthy, if not for his demon half. Abel placed a single hand atop his bare chest as he tried to calm himself. His pale fingers, long and strangely graceful, rose and fell with that of his chest.

After a few moments, they both slowed. He was glad to have the excuse to leave. Trying to calm himself with her in the room would have been close to impossible. He also had caught the venom of maybe a rough past in her words, though he thought about this just as bitterly. What gave her the right to take it out on him. He had done nothing to her, besides protect Aida and Kaori. And this at most had scared her, and maybe ruined a few of her possesions.

Kolette cursed lightly under her breath. She had left her sword behind, she had been, afterall, simply taking a trip to the chapel. And on top of that she was wearing a skirt. Resisting the urge to curse her luck once more she shook her head. She hadn't been expecting Warren to drag her through the worst part of town. How much more vulnerable could she have looked? Not much, she soon decided. But with Warren present, and close by, it was a bit better than before.

Kolette took a few elongated strides, reaching out to gently grasp Warrens arm, just before the elbow. Her touch was surprisingly gentle. One thing was for sure though. Being accustumed to treating filthy nonhumans the way they deserved hadn't made her entirely forget how to treat a fellow human. Especially one who was helping her and her dear father's cause.

Kolette's eyes scanned the inn with narrowed eyes. What was the use of this place? She scowled, glancing once more at Warren, releasing his arm as he motioned her in. This place could fall at any moment. And look at the all the hunters they would lose! Though none of the three present there she knew well. She recognized them, but their names were of no concern to her. "mmmhhmm, lets." She agreed, unenthusiasticly.

Warren didn't seem to mind Kolette grabbing his arm, on the contrary, the closer she was, the more confident he felt that he could protect her if the worse were to happen. He had heard that she was actually a capable warrior as well, but he wasn't sure what would happen if something were to sneak up on them.

Warren lead Kolette to the other end of the building to a table he deemed somewhat cleaner than the others. He also wanted to sit somewhere out of earshot from the bartender. As he pulled out a chair for Kolette to sit, he looked at her and spoke in his usual calm voice, "I'm sorry my lady, I know this place isn't of the highest quality, but aside from being close to the city's exit, it's the last place anyone would expect to find us." He didn't feel the need to mention that a few of the less devout hunters found the church too restrictive of a meeting area.

"Now then my lady, I do not wish to keep you in such a place, I believe we may speak openly here, wards have been placed around and inside the building to keep out the unclean." He doubted she had seen the runes carved on the outside of the building, had he not known their location, he doubted he would see them himself. While they had been their since some of the hunters made this place their secondary headquarters, the only nonhumans that they had stopped seemed to have only been their purely by coincidence.

At any given moment, at least ten or more figures would occupy this stretch of road, for it connected two major cities and the lesser roads branching from it connected at least a dozen towns more. This moment was no different. Nobles on their fine horses, merchants in their wagons and peasants on their feet, all frequently used this stretch of road.

Taria trotted at her sister's side like the faithful hound she was supposed to be. With her massive size, silver-edged coat of jet, and overall wolfish appearance, that was somewhat difficult, but the fact that she was wearing a collar and was not devouring the slight girl next to her as she so clearly could, seemed to mostly convince people of her doggishness.

Her little sister had reasoned out their escape and method of travelling quite throughly. One, two girls travelling alone might as well just be screaming "EASY PREY!! COME AND GET US!!" Therefore, why Taria was in wolf form, why they always tried to travel in company, why Talia was dressed in ill-made peasant clothes and wasn't on a horse, and why Taria had rolled around in the dirt earlier on so she looked more the mangy mutt.

Granted she was a big mangy mutt. That was all to the good to ensure no one attempted to accost them. As for why she had to be as doggish as possible... well, people were used to dogs. Dogs were loyal, affectionate to their masters, and above all, tame. Wolves on the other hand had a reputation for wildness, killing babies, and general bloodthirstiness. Even if she behaved as well, or better than, any dog, people would still look at her askance. Some of them might even believe Talia to be a mighty sorceress to have such a wild beast trotting at her heels. Then both of them would probably be in trouble.

Oh yes, and another thing. It was probably best for Talia to do all the talking anyway. Taria in human form, tended to blurt things out. Taria in wolf form, was unable to. Also, Talia was a much better liar than Taria. Take now, for instance. A plump, middle-aged lady, the sort who exist only to poke and pry into other's business, was approaching them now.

"Hallo there! Young lady, don't you know its not safe to be travelling the road alone these days? All those ferocious monsters and demons... why not come and join our party?" she gestured behind her where a bunch of similarly plump and middle-aged ladies were chatting and keeping an eye on their comrade in case she needed backup. "We're pilgrims journeying to Ramedlav, to pray for all right and proper people to gather up their courage and drive away the abominations. We've heard the presence of the Lord is strong in that city! Surely our prayers will be answered if we go there."

Talia gave the lady a shy smile and spoke softly, "Thank you for your kind offer, ma'am. It is good of you to be so concerned over a total stranger as I am. However... I'm afraid I must decline." Talia sounded genuinely apologetic. "You see... some weeks ago, I received a message at my aunt's farm that my mother was terribly ill. She... she may not have much longer to live." Talia bowed her head, as though weighted with fear and grief, but still, there was a firm determination in her voice when next she spoke. "That... that is why I must make all possible haste. Rover," she nodded towards Taria, "should be able to protect me fromt he hazards of the road, but the town of Kairon is still many weeks away and I can afford no delay, not even to the fabled holy city of Ramedlav." Taria noted that Talia had actually remembered to interject the appropriate amount of awe and wishfulness in her voice as she spoke of their home city as though she had never been there before.

"But perhaps..." Talia locked imploring eyes on the nosy pilgrim. "Please, ma'am, if you are already going to Ramedlav, then... could you please pray for my mother? I know I am selfish to want her to stay away from heaven, just a little longer, but surely the Lord will forgive a daughter's weakness. All I want is to see her one last time, and to hear her voice once more. Will you intercede to the Lord on my behalf?"

"Of course I will, child!" The pilgrim looked as though she was about to explode with emotion. "Such a good and dutiful child as you, surely the God will grant your request! I will go straight away! Godspeed you on your way, child." And with that, the lady was bustling off, back to her friends. Within moments as the lady gabbled whatever explanation, the entire group had sped up and were soon out of sight.

Taria nosed her sister's hand and spoke to her mind to mind. She could only do that with her sister if they were touching, and couldn't at all for anyone else. "I have no idea how you do that, little sis."

"Its nothing." Talia scratched Taria's ears to maintain the mental connection. It would look weird if Taria just stuck her nose in Talia's hand all the time and Talia didn't do anything about it. "I suspect she didn't really want to include a dirty little peasant girl in the group, she just wanted to do her good deed for the day so she could praise herself for the rest of the year. I gave her an opportunity to do that without having to include the dirty little peasant girl."

Talia's mental "tone" was just as dry as her real voice would have been. Taria grinned, dog-like at her, then ducked away from Talia's scratching hand to continue trotting alongside. They still had a good distance to go after all, even if it wasn't to the town of Kairon.

((Thanks!))

Taria managed to control herself till they were out of sight of the latest town they had visited. Then she swore and kicked an innocent bush that just happened to be within reach of her foot. "Damnit! What the hell is wrong with those idiots?! Here they are, weeks away from the accursed mother church in Ramedlav, and they're still behaving like little sheep!" Taria glared at the bush as though it personally, was responsible for all her problems, then kicked it again. This time, a thistle embedded itself in Taria's leg and she hopped around cursing and swearing some more.

Talia watched the entire debacle and waited till the thistle had been extracted. Then she waited some more, following Taria like a watchful shadow until she'd stomped off more of her rage. Finally, Talia added in her two cents worth. "At least this time they weren't filled with quite as much righteous fervour," she pointed out. "There wasn't even a single fanatic. The farther we get away from home, the better the chances are we'll find a home. An outflung village somewhere where the church is not quite so strong. According to my readings, places do exist where the church holds no sway. Where people are perfectly accepting of lycanthropes."

"Like a what?" Taria frowned at Talia, but the smaller girl merely sighed. She had forgotten how very... untutored her elder sister was. No, actually, that was being unfair to Taria. Not many people knew that term in these times. "Lycan. Or lycanthrope. Another word for werewolf."

"Oh." Taria's face momentarily cleared, then she scowled again. Not quite as heavily this time though, Talia noted. "Fine then. So where next?"

"Hmm..." Talia's gaze went distant as she focused on the memory of a map. Taria had no idea how her sister could hold it so clear in her head, but apparently, she could. "The next settlement of those unconfirmed to be firmly with the church would be... at least a month away at walking speed. There are several other settlements near here, but they are all fully human and fully church-controlled. At our destination however, there are reports of non-humans within that community living quite peacefully."

"Sounds good I guess." Taria admitted, shifting into wolf form. She trotted ahead a bit, then bounded back and placed a paw in Talia's hand. "What's the place called anyway?"

"Dresden."

Kaori chuckled at what Selyna said, "No, I guess not." After setting the food down on the table, the young witch headed out towards the living room. When she had just reached the entrance to the room however, she heard the front door slae. Looking around, she realized that it must have been Able that had left. Curious, and a little concerned, the young woman looked over at Aida, who just shruged.

"I'll be just a moment Selyna," Kaori called over her shoulder, "Why don't you and Aida dig in, you do not want the pancakes to get cold." With that said, the woman picked up a thick shawl from the couch and wrapped herself in it. Slipping her shoes on at the door, she headed outside, looking to see if she could spot Abel. She heard the door bang loudly behind her and she winced slightly at it, she would need to fix that later.

With a slightly sigh, the witch wrapped her shawl tighter around her. She did not want to seem to nosy, after all, Abel was a guest in her house, she had no buisness prying into his affairs. And, if he chose to leave in the night, that was his own buisness. Still, Kaori could not help being a little concerened for him. After all, she knew that the rumors flying around about some kind of beast in her forest were not empty. "I'm sure he can take care of himself..." She told herself biting her lip.

After a moment, Kaori decided she might as well look about the yard for him, if only to tell him that the food ws done. By now her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the light, so she would not have to waste energy calling up a flame to light the way. "Abel?" Kaori called out as she moved away from the porch and towards the side of the house, straining her eyes and ears to catch some sign of the shifter.

According to Talia's calculations, they were now about an hour's walk away from Dresden. She signalled Taria to change back to human form, and they spent a while going over their usual plan and story one more time.

"Ok, so we're from..." Taria waited for Talia to supply the name of a suitably remote place, far away from Dresden. Talia did not disappoint, her gaze going distant for barely a moment before she recalled such a place. "Jarden."

"Right, we're b*****d children of a formerly wealthy Jardenian merchant. However, Dad made an unwise investment in some goods and so, our entire fortune was sunk in a storm. Dad eventually suicided and then we got chased out by his creditors. So now we're travelling the countryside, doing odd jobs to earn our keep while we're in a town, but not intending to stay very long." That bit was added for prudency's sake, in case the village was too firmly under the church's thumb, as the last few had been.

"Anyway, so that's our story. What we'll do then, is head to this Dresden's most popular tavern and I'll start sounding folk about how they feel about non-humans and the church hereabouts. I guess you'll just quietly watch everyone as usual, oh shy little sister of mine." She air-quoted "shy" and grinned at Talia, before going serious again and continuing with the plan. "After say... a few hours, we'll slip off and compare notes. Maybe this time we'll have finally found a place to be at home."

"It may be so." Talia agreed with a nod, hearing the disbelief in Taria's assertion that this might finally be their promised land. "And even if not.... we have seen not even a quarter of all the villages in this land. Eventually, there will be a place we can call home." Talia saw the conviction in her tone affect Taria, straightening her spine and giving her new hope. That was all a little sister could ask to do for her elder sibling really. With a quiet smile, she trailed after Taria as they marched towards their possible home... or not.

((Shall our characters meet at the tavern, or in the woods? Taria and Talia can spot your cabin before they reach the town.))