Welcome to Gaia! ::

Errands were never a fun thing to do and Gwen found herself with a load of them to take care of after work. As night began to fall she had finally finished everything that needed to be taken care of and instead of heading straight home she decided to take some time for herself. So with a coffee in hand, she headed into the park to enjoy some much needed fresh air.

The trees were still very barren, not even the hint of leaf buds could be found. The grass, though green, had the usual winter straw-like appearance and feel to it. It certainly wasn’t the most pretty of scenes, but it was a nice change from the cityscape. It was places like these that Gwen could just relax and pretend she wasn’t caught up in...well...a lot of things.

With the falling night, Gwen stood and watched the sun sink down over the horizon. Twilight was always a pretty time of day as the sky tended to produce beautiful hues. The show that evening was well worth the wait as purples and blues painted across the sky as night slowly crept in. It was times like this that Gwen wished she had learned to paint. Sketching something like this never really caught the full beauty of it. She imagined water colors could come close, but alas it wasn’t her chosen media. “Maybe I’ll have to look around for a class to take.” She mused. Ut then again did she really have time? What between work and her newer nightly duty? I could just say screw up and not go out at night anymore. It would certainly make her life easier. But, she had decided to give it a legitimate try, and really, she was still trying to pass judgment.

Speaking of which, she looked at the watch on her wrist. I could just head out from here tonight. It’ll save me from trying to hide from Isaiah. That was another problem with this knight duty. Hiding it from her roommate which was becoming increasingly difficult as they began to get to know each other more and more.

She chugged down the rest of her coffee and pitched it into a garbage can as she continued down the path. She eventually spotted a rather large oak tree. That should suffice. After all, it wasn’t like she had really seen anyone out and about. It was still cold enough at night to deter many people from being out. Hell, if she hadn’t already been out she would be happily warm on her couch under blankets.

Slipping back behind the tree, Gwen gave a quick rudimentary look around before powering up. Where the young woman had once stood, now stood the Earth Page, Hy-Brasil.

If she had bothered to be a bit more detailed in her scan of the area, Hy-Brasil would have spotted the red-haired man making his way up the path. Unfortunately, she had assumed that the tree would cover her from that direction. Not so much. So when the man spoke up, Hy jumped slightly and spun in the direction of the voice nearly tripping over a tree root in the process. She only just saved herself from falling face first to the ground which would have been even more embarrassing than her ungraceful fumbling.

Flushed in the face from getting caught and nearly making a fool of herself, Hy looked at the man. And now she was standing face-to-face with someone who looked not at all surprised by her magical change, but was certainly not donning any indications that he himself was of the magical variety. “I….um…”


She ran her hands through her hair, to try and get the mass of lock back into some kind of semblance as she nervously tried to think of a way to maybe write off what he may have seen. And she drew a blank. It figured. I am not even a Knight for more than a month and I manage to mess things up. Well, she never did say she was going to be fantastic at this job. In fact, she clearly remembered stating she thought she was a poor choice.

While standing there trying to fumble together an excuse she realized that the red-head seemed unperturbed by what he’d seen. A fact she missed in her startled state. Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath of air to help calm herself before letting it out and opening blue eyes in the process. “Look, just don’t mention what you saw tonight?” Smooth, Hy. But, what else was she going to do? It wasnt’ like she was going to attack the man and knock him out of anything and hope he forgot what he saw? Besides he must be level headed enough considering his lack of surprise and more of a chastising….

“I am an idiot.” She muttered quietly to herself, but surely carried to her company. “You know what I am.” She stated matter-of-factly, head tilting to the side as a hand went to her hip.

Right, well, that made things a bit easier for her. No need to be worrying that she’d gone and messed up by revealing herself to some random civilian. She did feel a bit embarrassed though that she had been caught in the first place. “Uh, yea. I am fairly new.” She said tentatively as she stepped forward to shake the man’s hand. “Hy-Brasil, Page of Earth. I also go by Gweneth or Gwen.” She offered the man a smile before dropping her hand back to her side. “Nice to meet you Fritz. I can’t say I’ve met anyone who wasn’t powered up, yet.”

Then a thought crossed her mind and Hy bit her lip as she contemplated it. Fritz, being a Knight, must know some things that she didn’t. Hell, he probably knew quite a lot of things, and she had one important question she wanted to see if he could answer Eyes darted around again in a more thorough search of the area but Fritz’s words still echoed in the back of her head about being careful. So, she opted to wait to power down and threw out an offer. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate a chat with you. I’ll buy you a coffee if you’d like. No need for us to stay out here in the cool night.”

In the fading dim light, the lamp posts scattered along the paths slowly began to kick on. Their pale glow creating just enough light to see by so as not to trip along the paths. It was this light that Hy-Brasil studied the man under and even with the horrible light she could see the drawn look and obvious exhaustion. “Are you alright?” She questioned carefully. It always felt like a tricky subject to approach with someone you barely knew, but Hy was genuinely concerned for the man. “I don’t usually like to pry but, you look like you could sleep for a few days.” Even if she didn’t know Fritz, a part of her felt an odd kinship knowing that he was involved in all the craziness as a Knight.

The fact that Fritz was willing to talk to her even though he looked ready to crawl into the closest bed he could find, was very warming to the young lady. He could have very easily brushed her off and continued on his way in search of the rest he needed, but instead he was going to help her. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that several people, those whom were able to anyway, had been willing to help or just pass of advice when they could. It seems like a close community.

“I am glad to hear things are working out.” And she truly was, but felt that he words may have come across as empty as such words had that tendency. So, she quickly continued on quickly.

“Alright. Coffee it is.” Deciding not to take chances, she popped back behind the tree and gave an extra good look around before powering down and coming round the tree, dressed in her jeans, fashion boots and warm coat. She flashed Fritz a smile as she pulled her hair out of her face and deftly braided it off to the side so it would be out of her way. “So, coffee it is. I know of a place not too far from here and it’s in the general direction you were headed.”

With that, Gwen started to lead the way down the path. At first she fell into a slightly awkward silence, not sure what to say, if she should continue the conversation or not? But the growing night didn’t appear to hold anyone else except her and Fritz. So, taking a breath, Gwen popped her hands into her pockets and glanced back at Fritz. “So, how long have you been a Knight?” She questioned softly.

Her head snapped to Fritz with wide eyes. "Five years?!" For some reason she had never really thought about how long all of this was possibly going on. It was still so new to her that the idea of being part of the war from now until...well, possibly the rest of her life was not something that had ever crossed her mind before. Was this something that could go in for years and years to come yet? Was her life going to be dominated by this war she'd been thrust into?

"I hadn't realized how long people have been caught up in all this."

She turned her attention back to the path they were walking. Thankfully they weren't terribly far from the park exit and would arrive at the coffee house in a timely manner.

"Is there any end in sight? To the war." She looked forward as she asked her question. The glowing lights of the street ahead becoming more and more vivid as they drew nearer to their destination. "I mean, has it gotten any better than it was?" Gwen really had no way of calculating how the war was going since she'd just stepped into the strange new world. To her it was all just a big mystery.

If he's been a part of this for so long maybe he'll be able to help me with that dream I had. She bit her lip as she contemplated asking her question now but decided against it. Better wait until we're sitting down with coffee. The poor guy looks like he could do with a rest.

A sigh escaped Gwen. "No, that's definitely not reassuring." She shook her head as they finally reached the end of the pathway they were following. It connected easily with the sidewalk which Gwen turned left down to the coffee shop that looked on an adjacent corner. "You would think after five years something significant would have happened. One way or the other to bring all of this to an end."

As they neared the corner to cross over, Gwen glanced down at the cast on Fritz's wrist before flicking her eyes back up to his face. "Is that from your eh...Knight job?" She questioned as cryptically as she could considering they were not possibly around prying ears, though somehow she knew the answer to the her own question. What else would it be but an injury from fighting. Though she didn't particularly know Fritz, he didn't seem like a guy who had much energy to spare for extracurricular activities outside of being a Knight and whatever else he did for a living. Unless of course it's from his job... Welp. Too late for that thought to cross her mind.

The traffic was heavy enough that Gwen opted to use the street signals when they reached the corner. She reached past Fritz to push the little button situated on the pole and waited for the light to indicate they could safely cross. Funny how I am worried about crossing a street safely when we are standing here talking about wars and fighting.

"This place has good coffee and some pretty tasty lattes if that is your thing." She smiled. "You order what you want. Even food if you need it." She added in, knowing the man was as exhausted as he looked. "It's the least I could do for you considering you dropped what you were doing to chat with me."

At that moment the light for them to walk lit up and Gwen led the way across the intersection. Peering inside the shop revealed it was relatively quiet. Only a few people were about and most of them were nose deep into work of some sort it looked like. Opening the door, she held it open for Fritz before following him in. For the time being Gwen halted their conversation to place their order.

Gwen ordered herself a coffee to go along with Fritz's order. The baristas were thankfully quick with the order considering neither of them had ordered anything particularly difficult to make. So soon enough Gwen was carrying a small tray laden with their drinks and Fritz's biscotti's to a table that was relatively secluded and also boasted cushioned chairs. The whole cafe itself had a very laid back feel to it and Gwen made note that she'd need to visit here again in the future to do some sketching. The oversized chairs made for a great place to just relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

Nestling into one of the two chairs after removing her jacket and laying along the back of the chair, Gwen plucked her coffee from the tray and removed the lid to help cool the drink. The amount of steam that billowed upwards indicated how hot the liquid actually was and Gwen was not keen on scalding her mouth so even sipping was out of the question.

Thankfully their little secluded corner was well away from any other customers, and with the soft jazz music playing over head she felt safe enough to continue their conversation where they left off. "I am glad things worked out for you in the end then. I hope you're friend is doing alright?"

She gestured to his wrist with a nod of her head. "Though, I am not sure if hot pink is really the best color for you." She smiled teasingly. "It clashes a bit with your hair."

Absently she stirred her drink with a small red stirrer anticipating that the sugar she requested was probably all sitting at the bottom. "As for Knight things..." Gwens face fell for a moment as she sighed. "I had a rather odd dream recently. I am not really sure what it was all about but it seemed so, so real."

She looked up from her stirring to Fritz. "I was in this random field full of tall grass and flowers and someone, or something called to me. Whatever it was couldn't have been human since it was just an orb of light and it seemed anything but pleased with me. Hell, it pretty much said that I was likely a bad choice to be a Knight and that I should hand over my Wonder to the Negaverse. That, was tough to hear considering how close it hit to home for me. I almost agree with it when it comes to me being a Knight."

She sighed and pulled the stirrer from her drink, plopping it on the train between them. "I was hoping maybe you could explain what it might have been? Or that you've had something like that happen?"

"It's just one reassuring thing after another." She chimed in after Fritz's explanation as she pulled her coffee cup in front of her to wrap her hands around it's warmth. "It makes no sense that something that is, apparently, suppose to be on our side is now going around and demoralizing Knights."

Carefully, Gwen chanced a tentative sip of her coffee. The liquid was not quite as hot as she had originally expected but it certainly wasn't past the sipping stage. She'd be nursing it for awhile while it continued to cool. At least she hadn't burned the inside of her mouth for her attempt though.

"Has anyone, I dunno, looked into what could be causing the trouble?" She was genuinely curious and there were no anger or sarcasm in her voice. This was a problem and truthfully, Gwen wasn't all that keen on possibly dealing with another troubling dream like she had already. Her moral in herself as a Knight was already low enough. She certainly didn't need anymore help in feeling useless in her new found job. "Is there even a way to do that?"

There was a lot that the Page still didn't know about her duties as a Knight. Hell, she'd yet to even visit her Wonder which was something she knew she'd need to take care of soon as a need to see it was growing with each passing day. "Sorry. I don't mean to throw a bunch of questions at you like this."

She leaned back in her chair, pushing a stray red lock, that had fallen from the hasty plait she made earlier, back behind her ear. With a sigh she offered him a wry smile. "There just seems to be so much happening and I want to help but, just am not sure how."