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A horse drawn supply cart road in from the plains, from some village on the wayside. It appeared normal, until it wheeled past you and you could see the tiny young boy of eleven, holding a staff two times his height with a knapsack tied at the end. It looked a bit too heavy for him. It was apparent that he had a beaming smile on his face, happy to dive deeper into his adventure. Young Icarus, or Embersoul, as the spirits called him, had just freed himself from years of hard labor and harsh treatment on the western coast of asia.

Though you could not tell the boy had seen and felt things a parent has nightmares about concerning their child. His scars were hidden by his shirt, and the bruises on his face had faded. Yet his aware, intelligent, wondrous grin remained. He was still innocent. The silly grin soon became a massive, awestruck gasp. T'was a town of many colors, indeed. He scanned the world as it moved away from him, being left behind by the cart. A twinge of fear being strained to be forgotten struck him as a large man passed by, hauling a barrel. A large man, like the one of the ones in the sweatshops. One of the ones that slapped him out of drunken boredom.

He shrugged it off and smiled again. None of that could happen here, none of it could happen anymore. Plus, the spirits that had been his family and friends for as long as he could remember told him he was finally coming of age. A age where he would be able to hone his skills and defend himself.

They told him that if he needed defense now, they would be able to defend him through him. He was strong enough now.

And so the fear faded and he grinned once again. The past was past, and the future was a grand surprise that, he though, would be most fun to unwravel. He reached into the back of the cart, grabbed an apple, and muched down on it.

Everything was forgotten for the sweetness of that apple, his eyes smiling. He was a child.

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we read in our childhood of rings which were wrought
By magical fires in the heart of the hills;
Which could whirl one through space with the quickness of thought,
And heal with a touch the most deadly of ills!
But the one which I coveted more than the rest,
Was always described as a beautiful blue,
Which changed in a moment if used as a test,
And called to distinguish the false from the true.

If I had but this ring on my finger to-day,
And could ask it each question that burns on my tongue,


The chiming of bells from somewhere distant awoke Kadoria much like they did everyday now that she was well. The Temple of Light had been ever so kind to her and letting her stay until she felt well wnough to travel once more. Thanks to the harsh treatment from her former mentor,she no longer remembered much of her past. But that thought didn't concern her as much as the ballad in the dream from which she had awoke.

Pushing the braids of shining ebony locks from her face, she picked up the lute someone had found for her and plucked at the strings, intoning to get the right note "lal...la,.....loaaaa..." Once satisfied she continued the ballad as she played the notes, the music carrying beyond the room where she slept, tho it was late enough in the morning she hopefully would not disturb anyone.

"Dare I listen unshrinking to all it could say,
Dare I use it like those which are fabled in song!
And if it turned green when applied to the root
Of a hope which I held, or a heart which I cherished,
Could I turn in my path, shake the dust from my foot,
And fling them aside like a rose that has perished?

Oh! frail as we are, all our life is a chain
Of links which half-hidden yet strengthen the rest,
No poor little dream is created in vain,
If we saw what was true, should we do what was best?
And if we could conjure the shadows that lurk
In the corners of life into being and form,
Would they leave us the calmness that fits us for work,
Or rob us of courage to weather the storm?

Ah, friend of my heart! if a fairy in play
Should give you a ring which would whisper of me,
I pray you to cast the temptation away;--
Since you trust in my love, let it be! let it be!
Restore it, sweet heart, to the hand whence it came,
Although it may be the most beautiful blue,
And cease not to trust me and love me the same,
Nor peril the test--if we knew! if we knew!"

The emotion in her voice enough to make a knight cry and a lady faint, her jaded green eyes flashing as she continued playing as she all but danced lightly out of the room and lost herself in the music. She wasn't really sure where to go and hoped to find someone who might help her figure out a way to repay the temple or at least somewhere she could find a way to make it on her own.

The song was her passion, her love, her master. Nothing but the song mattered until it ended. Then and only then would the harsh realities settle upon her. She needed something like a marketplace or a village square. Then her voice would shine, playing for the audiences who wished to escape themselves for a time to listen to the beautiful woman whose voice was as clear as bells of light, tho her eyes showed the pain within.

Kadoria hoped to earn enough for some new clothes as well as to make tithes as well. Perhaps a bit of something special to eat as well. Luciues was behind her now, perhaps never to return. She had surpassed him, he said before beating her within an inch of her life. It was only the kindness of a stranger that she had found her way here to such kind and wonderful people. Even she could hope to blend in her. Perhaps no one would think of her beauty or song other than the peace it offered them for the moment they heard it. Tho she knew it wasn't likely, if it could happen it would be here.

In this manner she continued out of the temple and towards the center of the city, where from her experience,marketplaces and the like usually were. She saw everything that was around her the colors, fabrics and esp the people all the while dancing lightly as she played the lute and sang slowly warming both her and her instrument up for the fun of the game.

((here goes a first attempt at a post. Hope it isn't too horrible sweatdrop ))

Himmley wandered around for a while all the people around looking to busy to help. He sighed a bit rember the last few people who were busy. They didn't have to be so rude atleast they could of told him to leave with out the insults. He had the right mind to go back there and show them one for but his stomach growled reminding him it need to be filled. He groaned in pain looking for something or someone who didnt seem to busy but thats all there seemed to be in the city. People going somewhere or having something to do. Maybe the city wasnt all it was all cracked up to be, he spied a supply cart go by with a small boy in the back. Then again maybe it was.

His curiousity taking over his stomach he decided to run after the cart and seeing what the boy was doing. It wasn't to hard to catch up to the cart it was in town so it was traveling a bit slow, but Himmely was still winded when he got there. He bent over grabbing his knees panting for breath but still walking so he wouldn't have to run after the cart again. After a few seconds of recooperation he stood up straight and beamed following the cart along waving to the boy. "Hi there!"

As was usual she gathered a bit of a crowd as she left teh Temple and continued playing, inceasing the tempo of the music as she carried her voice high and to the surrounding streets much like a pied piper, tho she was a gentle mistress only asking they forget their troubles for a moment and enjoy the tune.

Kadoria's lilting voice and beautiful figure as well as the song itself drew more people as she continued to play, wishing she would find something that would pay a fair amount, enough to get out of the simple clothes the temple had supplied her with. Not that she wasn't grateful. To be sure she was. However all she had on her that was her own was the ruined clothing from. She was amazed at the people she saw around her, both eastern and western.

Her mother had been eastern, she knew that much. Her father tho.....what had he been like she didn't know...She only vaguely recalled her own brothers and she was like them as Night was to day. Pale and delicate, where they were tanned and large, oh so very large. She remebered that ...that and some dark whispers in her mind.

Pushing them aside, she realizes the her ausience was drifting away as she had stopped playing. Bringing the lute back up, she begins a much cheerier tune to pull herself and them out of the humdrum of everyday life, her green eyes sparkling with merriement as she danced and entertained them, her own worries forgotten.

"All around my hat, I will wear the green willow,
And all around my hat, for a twelve-month and a day.
And if anyone should ask me the reason why I'm wearin' it,
It's all for my true love who's far, far, away

Fare thee well cold winter, and fare thee well cold frost.
Oh nothing I have gained, but my own true love have lost.
So sing and I'll be merry, when occasion I do see-
He's a false deluded young man, let him go, fare well he.

Now the other day he brought me a fine diamond ring:
but he thought to deprive me of a far finer thing.
But I being careful, as true lovers ought to be,
He's a false deluded young man, let him go fare well he.

Take a quarter pound of reason, and a half pound of sense,
A small spring of time, and a pinch of prudence,
Now mix then all together and you will plainly see:
He's a false deluded young man, let him go, fare well he."

The sprity step in her voice as she danced, it didn't matter that she was dressed as she was only that she sang to their soul and the forgot for just a short while, the wife with the new babe, the employer who cut your wage for taking a five minute breather. The crops that hadn't come in. All was lost within the song. Lost in the beauty of her eyes as she lost herself within the music, playing a show many would treasure for years to come.

Moving into the next song without a wasted breath, leaving them wanting mroe was not her policy, keep them bound until they emptied their pockets was more like it. They would beg her to take every penny but she would refuse and then the would come back further bound. But she was not a rogue to cheat them of everything only to ensure they would come back.

Finally making to a clear corner of the busy market. Looking around her hoping she wouldn't be bothered until she could afford protection of her own to defend her right to play. Her Bright eyes flashed challenge at anyone who dared looke at her wrongs as she took a proffered seat and strummed quietly, managing to be heard even over the dun of the crowds as she played a hauntingly familiar melody, reaching into the very soul of the listeners and pulling them with her as she sang. Her black hair falling in her face as she plucked each note, wrenching the audience almost physically with the emotion from the song.

"One dark night as I wandered down the road to Killeigh
Through a forest I made my way
When out of the blackness and the silence of night
A bard's voice began to sing
The sound of that voice, it pierced the dark
And echoed inside my soul
I followed the music through the dark wood
To a clearing where firelight did glow

In silence I crept, not a sound did I make
My presence concealed by the trees
I looked 'round the clearing and I spied a strange man
With a harp set upon his knees
From his lips fell the voice which filled my head
And burned itself into my heart
Then he ceased his song, his eyes looking up
And his gaze met mine in the dark

The Soul Bard looked into my eyes
The Soul Bard saw into my soul
His music brought tears to my eyes
And left my heart longing for more

In his eyes I saw the wisdom of a thousand years
And the knowledge of things yet to come
Then his voice rose again with that echo so sweet
It brought chills down the length of my spine
As the Soul Bard's voice rang out in the night
I closed my eyes to hear
And when they opened again, I looked all around
But the Soul Bard he had disappeared

I thought it a dream, so I went on my way
But the Soul Bard lived on in my heart
And now and again when I walk through that wood
I can still hear his song in the dark
I can still see his eyes as they stared into mine
And the fire that burned within
And I know that his music will stay with my soul
Though I may never see him again

For the Soul Bard looked into my eyes
The Soul Bard saw into my soul
His music brought tears to my eyes
And left my heart longing for more

Oh his music brought tears to my eyes
And it left my heart longing for more...."

Letting the coins spill into the bucket the same vendor who had given her a seat set it forth. It was her features that got her such attention she knew but next time she would bind her breasts and hair to keep the attention where it belonged on the music.. For one day she wished to simply be herself and entertain someone, to let their spirits fly free.

((so going to redo this when I'm concious))

As Fei raced toward the horses, his pace matching theirs, he felt the exhilaration of sheer speed. It was addictive, to move at such a breakneck haste without the need for a mount, and he grinned as he closed the gap between him and the horses.

The world was ablur as he moved at his rapid pace, yet he could still see the city approaching, and rapidly at that. Finally running alonside them for a short while before slowing for a bit to end up behind the horses, still hot on their trail as they took a right turn down an alley, then a left onto the main throughfare, which was crowded as usual. Seeing as it was too congested for even him to follow at this point, he took to the rooftops, leaping soundlessly from one to another, and all while keeping up with the riders.

As they weaved between the various obstacles, whether living or not, he could imagine the look on Hikaru's face- the grin of sheer joy that came from riding as he did, passing dangerously close without knocking over a single person or cart. It was a show of skill that came with years of training and dicipline, and Lao was proud to bear witness to it.

As the ride came to a slow stop in the main marketplace, he stopped atop one of the high buildings- one that gave him a good vantage point. His eyes missed nothing as he scanned the area, looking for anything unusual. Of course, life itself was unusual- but that was not what he was looking for.

The entire thing was crooked, so much so that it hurt your eyes to look at it. None of its legs were quite the same length, and they were far from the perfect round that they should be. The ill made chair seemed to totter toward the corner of the room, as though it were trying to hide its ugliness in the shadows. One of its front legs was lifted clear off the ground by virtue of its shortness.

"By the spirits! What is that thing?" came a shocked male voice.

Tiel looked up from her papers, her dark eyes seeking out the speaker. It was Thomas, one of the newly made journeymen, the best of all the former apprentices in her father's shop.

"Tiel's latest masterpiece," answered Calagon, his tone conveying exactly what he thought of the girl's work. Tiel paused on the word she was writing, her hands quivering as she held the pen to the paper.

"Spirits be blessed, I hope Master Brooks lives a long time...I'd hate to think what'll happen to this place once that girl holds the purse strings."

Tiel's pen snapped, leaving a large blotch of ink where there had once been the beginning of a poem. They knew she was there...she was in plain sight...they knew she could hear them...it was the only reason they were doing this.

"Well, then, after we shift this stuff to the marketplace, what do you say you and me toast the good master's health in proper fashion? I heard the tavern recently got a shipment of fine ale from across the seas."

As they spoke, the two lifted an ornate writing desk from the assortment of completed furniture. Their voices mercifully faded away as they maneuvered it out the doorway and onto the busy streets. Tiel, in turn, busied herself with clearing up the mess her pen had created.

Just as she had retrieved a fresh quill, her father appeared back in the shop. "Tiel! Take this to the marketplace, quickly now. It's the last piece I need to sell, now hurry before the best of the crowd leaves."

Sighing in resignation, the 13 year old set down her writings and picked up the chair he had indicated. It was simple, but elegant, unlike her own. Each leg was a perfect cylinder, each exactly the same length, and the wood was polished until it shone. Silently berating herself for her own incompetence at her father's art, Tiel slipped out the door and clumsily ran with her burden toward the center of the city.

Kadoria and the vendor exchanged looks as the bucket filled with coins. It would be a good day for both. Dispersing the crowds quickly with a ditty about goig back to worrk she scooped the clinking coins up, handing over a percentage to the vendor for his assistance and pursing the rest as he hands her a pouch and strap. She had helped him make more than enough to make his day worth it so he would help her out a bit.

Tugging at the collar of the white linen shirt she wore, she politely asked where she might see about some more colorfull clothing before performing some more. Her eyes flashing as she spoke, making him focus on her voice and tell her what she needed to know,not a recommandation for a friend or family. Tipping an imaginary hat at him she headed towards where he finger pointed, wanting to get out of these clothes as soon as possible. Slinging the borrowed lute over her shoulder as she made her way through the crowds.

Humming as she went, feeling a bit carefree for the moment, not to have to deal with her mentor, obnoxious nobles, or scholars trying to tell her that her music wasn't the proper way to perform music. She felt her music from the very depths of her soul, the audiences paid for it, women wept for her music, why should it matter if it was proper.

Finding the vendor she was looking for, the stand was a bit shappy but the materials were not. Motioning him to the side, she promised him extra gold if he would find her a pair of male breeches, a pair of kid boots , a large male shirt, a bodice, a slip dress and some binding. She knew she had enough for it. The days take had been very good even with the vendor's take. She would be able to rest easy this day and play to her heart content without worrying if she had enough when the day was through.

Sending his daughter off to dig through the dresses, he hands her the male clothing and binding that she had asked for as well as to a room,where she could change. Smiling at him gratefully, she takes them and goes to the room,looking around and assessing before going over to a wall. Humming to her self something that sounded very much like a dirty sailor cant, she finds the knot hole and sticks her fist through, punching the knot through . "No free show here boy"

Kadoria pulled her fist back so that the embarrassed face of the vendor's son was seen to be quickly retreating holding his face "sorry Mistress" mumbled as he quickly headed out of sight. Not once looking back as she removed the lute and set it on the pallet before stripping out of the linen shirt and skirt.

Down to only her undergarments, she even stripped these off as she cautiously checked the room once more. Sastified no one was watching she took the linen binding and slowly wound it around her torso, tightly binding the breast to her. Content with her handiwork, she slipped the linen shirt on, wrapping the lower part of the shirt upon itself to fasten the button, it gave it a very romantic air. As well as strapping a small leather thong through the front to hold everything in place. Once that was accomplished she slipped on the young boys hide pants.

She was a bit too curvcious to pass a close up inspection but with her lute in hand she should be able to go unmolested and perform. Taking the last hunk of leather, she binds her hair tightlyinto a braid. It was a bit thicker than most men who would choose to wear their hair this long but she refused to cut it. Going to a basin she rinses her face till she appears once more in her guise of a fresh faced minstrial lad.

Satisfied with her appearance she heads out, slinging the lute back over her shoulder, tossing the vendor another coin as she picks up a satchel and stuffs the few female items into the bag., Surveying the market, she wonders if anything interesting would happen or if it would only be the music for her to day....

Stepping out into the sun, Kadoria the minstrial was gone and in her place was a very fresh faced almost too pretty to be male lad with a lute, Kado..... He might know how to play or not, only time and the music would tell. It was her first day back and she wanted to absorb the sights and sounds of everything around her. The smell of the food vendors, the shimmer of fabrics, the clanging coming from the weaponsmiths.

Everything about a market excited her and she would take it all in. Her very impression that of a country boy lost in the big city. THo she was careful to hide her pouch of remaining coins until she decided on a spot to play. She was perhaps a bit too overeager to explore, avoiding some nobleman's horse as he was stupid enough to walk it through the market. "What kind of idiot brings a horse into a crowded market" careful to move quickly out of the way to avoid a lash from the whip most of them seemed fond of carrying. Her voice that of a young boy whose voice had yet to change.

She had no fear of nobles, She wasn't really sure why only that she didn't. The whip on the other hand was a different story entirely. She moved out of the way,not paying attention to the rider(s) intent on getting herself some food and finding a good spot to ply her trade. The lute on her back a bit of nice of incentive, since she intended to pay back the acyolate who had found it for her.