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His knee buckled forward at the insistance of the staff; one leg sprawled under him, while the other connected aforementioned knee with the rough wood on the pier, knocking against the bone just so in order to send a shower of tingling sparks up his leg. His hand, clutching the book, caught himself on the ground, just barely saving him from becoming an undignified heap on the ground. Breathing heavily, Crev was content to simply maintain that posture for a few moments... just a few precious seconds to recollect himself in, that was all he needed.

He was under control now. He was certain of it. What pain was there, what memories threatened... they would not overwhelm him. He could get by and function, and truly, that was all that mattered. Once he got to the library, he could start searching for a fix to all this. And other than that... it was very possible that the falling motion had concealed the man's agony reel altogether; after all, how was one to say if he had bent over to ward off the pain that was wound up within him, or to simply catch his balance? So now, if people were to think he was violent and quite possibly mad, they would at least not have to guess too closely at the truth.

He might not deign to outright thank Cadence for having tripped him... but at that moment, there was a certain amount of gratitude he felt towards the woman for having so aptly covered his weakness. Not, of course, that he suspected she had intended to do as such.

Getting his feet properly under him with a muttered sigh, Crev prepared to push himself erect once more. He would have to find some way to convince her to still take him to the library... or, failing that, at least to give him directions to get there himself. He wouldn't be surprised, after all, if Cadence decided she'd be safer to take her leave of his company now. Were their roles switched, there was very little in this world or the next that could persuade him to remain in the presence of one who had already demonstrated their unreliability.

It was at about that moment that the woman's hand came into focus before his eyes.

... A brave woman, Crev decided, staring a moment at Cadence as she spoke. Not altogether wise, though. Or... well, she certainly knows how to use that staff of hers. So perhaps not so foolish, after all. Did the woman intend to keep him under control? Was she infused with curiosity about the stranger before her, enough that she would forgive him his outburst? Did she have some goal in mind at all... or was she simply passing the time, unconcerned about what it might lead to, or even her own safety? Suppressing, seeking or suicidal... whatever the excuse, Crev thought better than to question her motivations for the moment. Taking the proffered hand, he rose smoothly from the ground.

"... We should be going, then." He would make eye contact this time, if only to avoid looking at the angry red mark left on the other's face; not wasting a moment in either hesitation or apology, he started for the ferry, taking great care this time to avoid contact with those filling the docks.

Crev couldn''t help but reflect how much it was like being back home again, to have the crowd so convienently part themselves in order to give way, suspicious glances shot in his direction whenever they thought he wasn''t paying attention....

With a grimace, he thought of how many times he''d wondered if he could earn a better reputation and greater respect, if he''d only have left his hometown. He once thought that, without the years of hostile history marring the minds of every person that would ever see him, he might become accepted; might "fit in", to whatever extent he might ever hope to. It seemed rather clear to him now, though, that that had all been a bunch of naive optimism. One way or another, the fault was his; trying to convince himself otherwise was delusional.

He could accept that, though. He''d managed this long, and he could manage the rest of his life in this manner.

With an indistinct expression, he took a moment to force his way further into the crowd, moving towards the relatively open space near the edge of the deck. If he was taking himself even further away from his guide, the mage didn''t seem to notice. He felt no particular need to remain near the woman that had led him onto this ferry, at the moment. In fact... to his mind, it was probably for the best if he just minimized contact with her until they reached the next town. It would give a chance to gather his thoughts and decide what to make of the other, and Cadence would have plenty of time to rethink precisely how involved she wanted to allow herself to become with the unstable stranger.

Even if she had unwittingly promised to show him the way to the library, Crev was not the sort to force someone to feel obligated to keep him company; he wasn''t even one to purposefully imply that he might wish their presence at his side. If someone were to place their footsteps by his, then so be it. He would not ask for them to come, and he would not ask for them to leave - to his mind, they were never truly there. If she were to fade into the crowd and, upon reaching the next town, slip away without his notice... well, that was her prerogative, and he intended to give her every opportunity to do so. If he were honest with himself, Crev might even realize that he was almost hoping the girl would take the chance to abandon him, to leave him to his martyr complex and erase any guilt that he might have felt over his previous actions... but, of course, he was too busy resigning himself to the idea that he might be left on his own to find the library.

"That's him!" The leader shouted, pointing. The other two bore their weapons and advanced on the man, while Aksel looked about.

"Who?" He asked, scratching through his thick brown hair which was in an every-which way layout that he didn't really mind.

"Him!" The leader said, turning with his eyes wide, thrusting a finger at the man who stood before the group.

Aksel looked at the man, keeping his axe on his shoulder. He certainly didn't look like a rogue.

"What did he do?" Aksel asked innocently.

The leader slapped a hand to his face. "He's stealing our women and our money." He mumbled.

"Why's he doing that?" Aksel continued.

"How should I know?" The leader returned incredulously.

"I think I'll ask him." Aksel started. The leader was about to cut him off but didn't have the chance. "Hey!" Aksel said, waving his arms at the man, as if it would be a task for him to see him. "These guys wanna know why you're stealing their women and their money!"

As the leader mumbled about killing Aksel as well just because he was a moron, the other two in the group looked back rather uneasily at the tall, muscular axe-wielder. They were certain he could take out all three of them with a single swing of his axe. The leader apparently didn't care. He'd think about it, at least, since he wasn't acting on it quite yet.

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

((I don't see any reason why you couldn't post... if Annie wants to run something by your character, you ought to talk to her about it, though. 3nodding ))

((I think I shall post. If need be, Dom can steal from someone and get caught then.))

The tinkling of the bell registered in the back of Dom's mind, it was a normal everyday sound. The crash that preceded however was not. Startled she quickened her pace, and walked back up the aisle. Someone seemed to have knocked in to one of the shelves, sending the contents cascading in to a downwards water fall. It also appeared that the person underneath all the herbs was allergic to one of them. Dominique was about to rush forwards to help, when she recognised the hair. Did 'e follow me? What 'orrible manners. She continued mentally bashing both Rick and his clumsiness, as he left the store just as quickly as he had entered.

Picking her way through the debris, she pressed her face up to the glass in the window, and watched as a group of very angry looking men confronted him about something. She opened the door carefully, opening it only enough to slip out of, but not enough to cause the bell to sound. She moved along the building, and stopped next to the group but still well out of the way should a fight break out.

This wasn't a fair fight at all. He was outnumbered. And Dominique really doubted that they had any evidence at all. And he seemed like an ok sort of man. Probably not one to commit such serious crimes that he needed to die at the hands of this Aksel, 'e really isn't too sharp, is 'e??.

"Per'aps you should present your evidence, so ze peeple know zat you are not lying." She called from the shadows. If they had evidence then all the more power to them and they could go ahead and deliver a just punishment. If they didn't, then no one is un-justly punished for crimes they didn't commit. It seemed like a good idea. Dom just hoped that they wouldn't get angry with her for suggesting such a thing.

Rick was astounded at this remarkable change in his fortune. Where he was fumbling about in the dark, previously, now the words of some completely random stranger and the impulsiveness of his assailants had eliminated the need for a fight of any kind, even that of words.

Someone up there is playing tricks on me, I bet, he thought. Whether this was true or not was completely beside the point, since he certainly felt that it was the case. As far as he knew, the disembodied voice that turned the whole situation on a dime was a voice belonging to a goddess. Hopefully a beautiful one. With money.

Actually, he was so relieved that he wasn't on the receiving end of Askel's choking that he didn't stop to think whose face that voice belonged to. He'd never heard it before, having never spoken with Dominique. For what it counted, he thought it sounded beautiful, and that stood for something, right? Rick briefly recalled dating this woman with the most beautiful body ever, but whose voice could only be described as the bizarre lovechild of Disney's Goofy and Fred Savage. It was truly vile, and Rick had to physically shake off the thought from his mind before following after Askel, who was now walking away, seeming either not to desire thanks or to have forgotten that he'd done anything merit-worthy.

"Askel, wait!" He called out, following after him, while restringing his bow. "Thanks for that. Those guys were really all up in my fries. If I could repay you by buying you lunch, would you disagree?" Rick had looked up at Askel, donning his innocent-genial face once more, but though the difference would have been near impossible to judge, he was geniune this time.

((All right. ^-^; This post is gonna be a little shorter than usual, but that's just because I've been a bit stuck, and I don't want to have to make you wait any longer just so I can get a better quality post on there. Gomennasai.))

"... Well." His tone was somewhere between wondering and impressed, when he noted the girl searching through the crowd... presumably for him. She clearly had no intention of escaping his presence- not even when she was provided with the perfect opportunity for doing so.

Idly, Crev wondered how long her noble sentiments would last.

It simply wasn't his style to call out to someone, or do anything overly extroverted in order to announce his location. But that didn't mean he didn't have his ways. Pausing a moment to figure the variables that might effect his minor stunt, he withdrew a small rock from his pocket, perhaps a quarter's size in diameter. Flicking this high up into the air, he waited a few seconds before the wayward stone was drawn back down by gravity.

"Oi! Wut waz 'at?!" Someone exclaimed in a heavy accent, rubbing their head and snarling at the sky. His voice was loud enough to carry over the crowd, no doubt draw attention; and unless Crev was much mistaken, Cadence would look immediately to the source of the noise. As the man was quite close to where the foreigner stood, it should be quite simple from there for the woman to figure her way to him, if she were truly so inclined.