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Night had fallen and the children were taken to homes while drunk idiots came out to play. The figure in a black cloak sneered as he smelled the stinking odor of a drunkard's breath who had came out from an inn. Didn't these drunken idiots knew they were polluting the air with their retched breaths and obnoxious farts? Seriously, how could he breath with these fools blowing horrid smells?

As much as he wanted to beat these drunkards, he dismissed the idea and continued his way. It had been months since he had set foot into the streets of Eyris. He wondered how the woman and her son was doing while he was away. Things did look a bit different from where he last came to visit before traveling in Estarcia. He wondered what had happened while he was gone.

Turning around the corner, he came to a familiar street he knew so well. The figure could smell the fresh scent of food coming from his destination, the Duke's Head. Huh? Since when Alex cooked so well? Maybe after his departure, but oh well. Food was food and he was hungry. The figure entered the tavern.

"Hey, Ma! I'm home! What's tonight special on the menu?!" The figure made his announcement in the inn, calling Helen by the nickname he had given her. He usually used that nickname to tease the woman whenever he came to visit her. What better way to announce his arrival that Rajin had returned.

Tibarn hummed softly, reaching up into the cabinet. "Oh, come on," he muttered, "Is this all they've got for spices?" He turned around, folding his wings down tight and grabbing his jacket again. "Gonna have to run out and hope Dave's still got the store open," he sighed, referencing the man who had tirelessly supplied him with the rare and obscure spices he'd requested.

"Be right back!" he called out from the kitchen. "I need to go get something to finish this." It wasn't a long way, but he nonetheless took the pot off the stove before departing through the back door into the alleys.

"Alright, see you soon," Helen called back, bustling around the dining room. When the door swung open, she looked up, then gasped! "Rajin, look at you! It's been a dog's age." She rushed over to her friend, laughing and poking his chest. "Hah, we'll see, we've got a new cook tonight. Not sure what he's making, but let's hope it puts a little meat on you. Could stand to gain a little weight! Might help you find yourself a lady!" She laughed softly, pointing him to his usual table. "You gonna be wanting a place to stay, or just stopping in for dinner?" She waved him over to his table as she quickly went on to greet Clara, all smiles. The widow's inn wasn't much, certainly, a bit run-down and weathered, but the people who went there went because it's where they'd been going for years and they knew they could count on Helen's smile.

"Welcome to the Duke's Head, dear, come on inside," she sighed happily. The only thing better than old customers was new customers! "Of course we've spare rooms, but why don't you have a seat, dinner will be ready in a bit. I'm Helen, just let me know if you need anything." The little woman quickly waddled over to the door to greet the regular crowd as they made their way in, calling for drink orders as her brother Ralph wandered down, poorly shaven, and headed for the taps behind the bar.

The sound of the kitchen door opening and closing could be heard dimly in the dining room over the dull roar of monotonous conversation. The smell of simmering gumbo and, more importantly, delicious, sweet beer bread began to waft in. He'd started the beer bread hours ago, fortunately, so it was close to done now.

Shortly thereafter, a little door where the wall met the service counter opened up, and the first bowls of gumbo slid out.

Clara smiled a bit. She found a place to stay for the night. Helen seemed like a nice enough person. She had that, motherly aura around her. She walked into the place and looked around. It wasn't too bad, so it was a little worn down, but still it was better than where she would have been if this place was full, outside alone trying not to get used for pleasure by some drunk men.

Clara took a seat at a empty table. She tightened up the sash to make sure her sword wasn't going to fall off her left hip. She would hate to lose the only weapon she had left on her. The smell of the food was entering her nose. She licked her lips. She was hungry. The last time she ate was a bit before dusk. She stomach growled a little.

"That food smells good," She said, "I wonder how well it tastes." She got up and grabbed a bowl of gumbo and went back to her table. She let the smell of the gumbo enter her nose again before she picked up a spoon scooped up some of the gumbo and let the food enter her mouth. Clara formed a smile on her face as she tasted the flavors. She swallowed what she ate.

"Oh this is good." She said, "This is the best thing I've had in a few months." She continuned to eat her meal with a smile on her face.

The morning sun rose over the rooftops of Eyris. As it cast its light over the Duke's Head rooftop, Rajin stirred a bit from his sleeping form.

He let out a yawn as he stretched his body to shake the aches off. He shook his head a bit before observing his surroundings. "Morning already? Damn, must be the cold weather screwing my sleep. Hope the old windbag gets here."

It had been over a month since Rajin came to Eyris, waiting for the old auditor to come. He had made business with that man over the past two years, making deals of treasure hunting; him going on adventures to seek treasures and artifacts while the auditor just gave him information of the treasures' locations and made offers with the customers. Rajin didn't care if he received little payment from the auditor. As long as he could travel the land and seek adventures, that was all he needed. Now, if only the old windbag came. This was the usual meeting place where they made their deal.

While waiting for the auditor to come, Rajin had scurried around the city, taking petty odd and uninteresting jobs. It wasn't exciting, but he needed something to keep him occupy from boredom. Man, this city needed to live it up a notch. Besides odd jobs, Rajin mostly lounged around doing nothing, especially at the rooftop of Duke's Head. And sometimes at night, he would go to different taverns to get drinks that mostly got him into bar brawls, which he mostly won. Apparently, one of his bar brawls was with the drunken captain of the Watch. Heh, he had to admit that drunkard put up a good fight, even if Rajin was going easy on him. Too bad he had to run off when the captain's buddies came to arrest him. It was a good thing he could easily blend into the night. The nighttime was always his camouflage no matter what.

A low growl was heard from his stomach. Rajin let out a silent curse as he placed his hand over his stomach. He had forgotten to eat dinner last night and he had very little money to pay for breakfast. The smell of the breakfast came to his nose, making his stomach growled even hungrier. Damn that cook for making him more hungry than he was. Even though he was hungry, Rajin admitted that the cook had very fine skill at culinary.

Ever since Helen told him about the new cook, business at the Duke's Head was booming. Probably mostly to try the cook's food then wanting to stay in an inn. Why, even he went to the Duke's Head to have some of his cooking two times per day. Man, that cook could cook...

Just then, a mischievous smile curled up in his lips. He cocked his head over his shoulder to look over at the rooftop where the kitchen was located below the second story. He smirked. "Well, let's see how good the cook is at catching thieves."

Rajin liked to do that sometimes whenever he came to visit Eyris. He usually liked the expression on Alex's face whenever he snatched something from the kitchen. Partly due to having low cash and hunger, but it was mostly for the fun. And even though Alex would sometimes get upset about him stealing food, Helen didn't mind Rajin. The woman knew that he would pay her back later by adding extra money whenever he ordered food. That was one of the quirks he liked about Helen. Never get upset at him when it came to her business. Now to test the cook's ability.

Rajin grabbed his black cloak and wrapped it around him as he got up and jumped off the roof and slid down the drainpipe. When he reached the ground, he placed his hood over his head and headed toward the back alley. Once he reached the door to the entrance of the kitchen, he let out a smirk.

"Okay, it's showtime." Rajin quietly opened the door and sneaked into the kitchen. His movement were very quiet and subtle, as if he was a ghost. The aroma of food came to his nose, making him more hungry than he was before. Damn the cook for cooking delicious food. If he wasn't so hungry, he would have done it for fun. Scanning the area around to see what he could steal, he finally saw the back of the cook.

Now this was something he didn't expect to see. A cook with brown wings. So that would mean the cook must be a hawk laguz. Huh? He would never expect a laguz to be cooking for groups of humans. There were still unsettled issues between the two races. Then again, this was a different world he was in than his home world. Well, since the cook was a laguz, that made his fun more exciting.

Let's see how good your hearing is. Rajin thought as he looked around more. There, on the counter, was a large plate of sausages. A mischievous smirk formed in his face. Perfect, he had found the object to steal. Now it was time for the fun to begin. Rajin hoped that Helen didn't tell the new cook about his little thieving trick. It wouldn't be fun at all if the woman ratted him out.

Helen was bustling around, busy with the new breakfast crowd. She had a breakfast crowd! It was weird to be able to say that, but she loved to do so whenever possible. It felt damn good! When she was approached by Clara, she blinked, then smiled apologetically. "Ah, well, it's a wonderful thought that you'd like to thank him, but he's very secretive. We don't let anyone in the kitchen or tell them his name, it's just part of his, uh... stip... whatevers, I had to agree to them so he'd take the job." He shrugged, carrying a tray of dirty plates back to the bar to pass them off to the new dishwasher-- she could afford to hire a dishwasher!-- and turned back to Clara. "I'm really sorry. But, if you want to thank him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you wrote him a note and I can put it through the order slot. Er, you can write, right?"

Tibarn hummed softly to himself, but as Rajin moved through the small kitchen behind him, his ears twitched. He sighed, waiting a moment, then flipped the knife he was using to carve a ham hock over and casually turned. He was accurate with a knife, but in a chef way. Perhaps an assassin would have slammed the tip of the knife down threateningly between Rajin's fingers. Tibarn brought it down into one of the sausages, then turned it over again in his hand, holding the limp tube of meat on the tip of his sharp knife. "Now boy, your skin and flesh might seem pretty strong and firm sometimes, but let's face facts. It's gonna proved about as much resistance as this sausage you were reaching for." He gave Rajin a tight, terse smile that his eyes didn't share.

"I go to pretty great lengths to keep my privacy here," he said. "I'm willing to let this go if you scamper on out and never say a word to anyone. Sure this is all just a misunderstanding, hm? 'Course, if word gets out I'm cooking here, you'll be the first one I'll come after." Without missing a beat, still facing Rajin, he picked up a spatula and flipped three pancakes over on the griddle.

"If you don't know me, even better." He paused for a moment, looking at the knife, then gestured to Rajin. "Here, take the sausage if you want it, I'm busy." He turned and picked up a little bottle, then shook it by his ear, frowning. "Hm, okay, that's empty," he said, before reaching up to open a cupboard and searching through its contents for a few minutes.

"Damnit. Damn, damn. Alright, boy, you still here? Fine. You can do me a favor, I'll make you a free lunch for it." He took a few more empty spice bottles out of the cupboard and checked the labels. "Take these out to the market and get them refilled. Should run you a couple of gold pieces," he added, reaching into a pouch on his belt and producing five small gold coins. "Come right back, don't let people see you come in here. Like I said. I like my privacy."

"Oh I can write well Miss Helen." Clara said with a smile. " My parents taught me well with alot of things. I'm sure he will still like the complement." With that, Clara made her way back to her room.

On the small desk in Clara's room were some pieces of paper and a pen. Clara sat down on the chair and started writing her letter.

To the chef who makes the wonderful food,

I just want to say, thanks for the food. I haven't had good meals since I left home a few months ago. Coming here from Leara was a long trip, but with the stuff I've been hearing about the capital, I thought I could try to help the people here. I haven't been able to help much though. Most of them want help from this FEF thing. I don't know what that is but, they must be good if alot of people want help from them. I just hope I can find more work so I can eat more of your good food.

Clara Risna

She seems ok with what she wrote. Maybe the person can help her out. Who knows? She stood up, tightening the belt that held her sword. She then blew on the paper just to make sure the ink dried. She then folded up the letter and put it in an envelope. She then left the room to give the cook the letter.

"Whaddya mean I'm not in Elibe anymore?" Farina demanded at the elder lady who had informed her of the situation and taken the knight between the time she passed out and awakened in a bed. "And where's Murphy?"

Of course the woman had no idea who Murphy was, so Farina had to explain. Unfortunately, the woman had not found Murphy. The woman had been very patient and explained numerous times to Farina how many people had been in Farina's situation and coped.

Currently, the blue haired knight was headed toward to Eyris. The elderly woman had directed there for clues and other opportunities. The lady had even given her some money.

Not even in Ilia or even Elibe for that matter. What a strange situation. Farina pouted as she used her spear as a walking stick. Good old Murphy. Maybe she could find some clues about him in town.

It was a bit of a walk to the town, and soon, she saw a tavern named "Duke's Head." With the amount of money she had on her and no knowledge of the area's workings, Farina decided to play it safe and enter the shoddy establishment. Besides, taverns were always good places to pick up news and business. Heh. She had frequented bars quite often, secretly, during her underage years. Fiora had caught her once and scolded her, just as older sisters always did.

"Heh," she mumbled as she took a random seat.