Madiea was somewhat distressed. Well, she wasn't really, because that would imply that she's in a bad situation with no way out, which wasn't the case at all. No, she could easily refuse the professor's request and simply go on home. She was more... overwhelmed. She had such a huge responsibility on her shoulders; a group of people were targeting rune bearers, aiming to kidnap them or otherwise, and no one else was any wiser. The fact that Mailo actually acquired confirmation of this was purely luck resulting from a string of events so improbable that the information getting into reliable hands could be considered a miracle for a God. Only she had the knowledge and the power to save lives. Whether they be a little more than a dozen or an entire continent's worth had yet to be known but that is a gamble no one should take. She had to go. She had to leave her family. She had to risk her life for a bunch of strangers that she didn't even know.

Thank goodness she was that kind of person.

She ventured towards the stables, eager to get her horse and return home but not eager to deliver the news to her family. She needed to return the horse before the fees got too expensive, after all. After a minute of walking, she smiled in delight at the stable master. She, however, did not look so pleased. Madiea noticed.

"Hello, Illeni," Madiea greeted (she liked knowing the names of others, even if they barely knew her and she may never see them again). "I would like to have my horse returned to me so that I may go on home."

"Ah, hello,... Madiea, was it?" the Illeni returned. "Unfortunately, there has been a complication regarding your ride..."

"... is he sick?"

"I hope not..." The manager took a deep breath. "Your horse has gone missing. One of the stable hands was trying to feed him but it broke loose and ran away."

There was a very awkward silence. "You're kidding."

"I'm afraid not. It bolted into the nearby woods. At worst, it could take us a whole day to find him."

Madiea managed to refrain from yelling to the Heavens with relative ease. Instead, she opted to exhale. "I see... well, thank you for informing me. It's a shame that my horse is a rental..."

"Oh, is that so? Well, don't worry; I'll write up a form and explain what happened. You won't have to pay for how long he goes missing; you just have to pay how long he was in your care."

"Thank you very much," said Madiea, shaking Illeni's hand. "I suppose this means I may have to spend the night here?"

"You may want to prematurely rent a room for the night. Don't worry; all of the inns will let you retract the rental whenever for a full refund so if you don't need to stay the night, you don't have to pay."

"I see. Thank you for that advice." Madiea walked back into the city. I guess I'll rent a room and then occupy myself for... She looked to the sky. Eight hours. Right; time to get to work. It didn't take her long to find an inn by the name of "Gambit's Inn". There was a "Bar" before the inn but it was crossed out. Either this was recent or the inn was poor and couldn't afford a sign replacement or there wasn't anyone qualified to replace a sign within sight. It didn't matter; she needed a room. She walked into the inn- ignoring the occasional lewd glances from the other patrons- and headed straight to the counter where a male was standing. He wore sharp clothes that did not go well at all with his large, bright red beard. "I would like to rent a room for the night, single bed," she requested with a smile as she took out her money pouch.

"All right, then," the bartender said as he pulled out a skeleton key. "That will be fifty gold, please." Madiea paid the agreeable price and the bartender handed over the key. "Thank you, Miss...?"

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." Madiea extended a hand. "My name is Madiea Luxnata."

The bartender was confused for a moment; he wasn't used to customers acting this friendly. He took her hand and shook it uneasily. "Frederick Bowsen. A pleasure to meet you."

She retracted her hand after the shake. "Thank you. If possible, I'd also like a glass of water."

[~-----~]

After spending two gold on a glass of water, Madiea went to sit at one of the outside tables and drink it. So she was stuck for maybe a day. She took out the notes compiled by Mailo and decided to study them. Kora Vanth, she read to herself. In her late-twenties. Serves as a Junior Knight of the Umaine military. Even though there are bans in place to prevent the leaking out of such, some soldiers were willing to depart of some information regarding her abilities. Her rune is most likely the rune of Phantasm. "She's the least likely to be targeted," concluded Madiea, "if she's a knight... but all the way in Umaine? Are there any closer rune-bearers? Anyone that I can save? ... She sighed. "I need to hold it together. The lives of rune-bearers are at stake; I don't have time to be petty." She continued revising the notes with renewed vigour. Thomas Gareshim...

The kind inn keeper smiled before giving an answer to Thomas about a price on the room. For twelve coins he was able to stay as a normal man, but he was given a discount on a feeling the keeper had. That lowered it to nine, however, with some extra work on the side, the man offered five coins a night! Thomas started to flow free with thoughts of the market before snapping out of his daze and replying to the kind man in front of him, "I don't really have much else to do, haha. I came here from Umaine looking to start my life over because of... uh.. you know what, never mind haha. I would love to help out if you are willing to offer a room for only five coins!"

Thomas had remembered the last piece of advice his father told him before he left the town, "This town was nice to you son, but that gift of yours, the rune, is not looked at the same everywhere. If you ever find yourself about to reveal it, think twice because it could cost you your life. And for the love of god, don't go showing off! Look at what you did to the town!" Thomas pushed himself out of the clouds once again, this time with a bit of a snicker.

"So what kind of-" Thomas began to speak, but ended up cutting himself off mid-sentence with a sneeze. "Ugh, someone must be talking about me. Sorry about that, what kind of work did you have in mind?"

The caravan traveled along, Juliette sitting on the back rim of the wagon. The air was filled with lively chatter, laughter, and the occasional burst of music. The bells on the horses chimed with every movement, adding a sweet counterpart to the conversation. Marne was driving, gazing down at Matthias occasionally, as they discussed a song they were trying to perfect. Richard was walking silently at the caravan’s side, with one of the children the caravan had picked up, tagging behind him, and forcing strangled notes out of the small reed pipes he had constructed for her. Her two brown braids were tied with bells, and every so often she would shake her head, laughing, just to hear them jingle.

The needle flashed in and out of the fabric in Juliette’s lap as she mended an old brown shirt, one who had nearly as many patches as the original fabric. A large pile of clothing and blankets awaiting Juliette’s care sat behind her. There were few pieces that any of the gypsies owned that didn’t need some attention. One of the boys- Tomas- was struggling next to her, attempting to mimic her small, precise stitches in the swaying wagon. He was sewing two rags together for practice. Laying her own work down for a moment, she straightened the cloth out, and showed him how to whip stitch once more, watching him make an inch of not-to-bad stitches before ruffling his shaggy red hair and going back to her own work.

Aden and the remaining child were savaging along the roadside, finding firewood, the occasional dropped coin, a few berries every now and then. When the road finally met up with a small, lazy creek traveling towards the sea, the vegetation grew thicker and greener, the boys’ finds more often, and the voices more excited. Tomas slipped out of the wagon and joined Aden.

They reached their destination well after noon, and set up quickly, grabbing a bite to eat as they worked, and within fifteen minutes they were preforming, with a sizable crowd gathered, and more lingering for several minutes before bustling away, maybe tossing them a handful of coins before they left.

After the performance, Juliette and Marne traveled to the market, leaving the men to pack up. They traded a few of the coins for a pair of used sandals, a new blanket, some stale rolls and a few sausages, and a basket of fruit. They also asked about other nearby towns, and learned that there were no more of decent size within, nor taverns. Their best bet, the merchants advised, would be to head towards Noapeta, and the capital was only a few days ride from the border.

The caravan rumbled out as night began to fall, dusk embracing the sky. They should be able to get in around five hours or so of traveling before stopping for the night. They ate dinner while walking and riding, before stopping and repeating their nightly routine, with Juliette taking the first watch, armed with her daggers and a sword within reach.

In the end Ula decided to leave her final decision to the wind, something that could not fail, a breeze from the west= leaving Felber and return to the roads, a breeze from the east= staying in Felber and find something to do with her life. So far the only breeze that had dignified to pass was from the south, something that was starting to confuse the girl.

Not that Felber was a zone of storms but still considering that it was near the coast and that the castle was on a cliff one would expect at least… more wind, maybe the castle was stopping most of it, still Ula continued her walk to the entrance of the city… just in case the wind allowed her to leave.

Or at least that was the plan, Ula could swear that she only had to make a turn near the market, walk following the houses to the blacksmith ´s place and another turn to reach the gate, instead she was near the… Busiest district maybe? Well at least she was near the inn, not mattering if she was staying or leaving an inn is the best place to gather, exchange or/and overheard information of any type.

Gathering some of her courage and forgetting her former train of thoughts Ula entered and proceed to ignore the way some were looking at her, probably due her tallness and the way she wore her cloak covering most of her face, still she walked directly to the bar, where the inn keeper was talking to some guy, placed three coins over it, probably interrupting their talk, looked at the innkeeper with a blank look and took a little breath.

"Wha´ I can git wi' three coins?"

Luke chuckled slightly when the King started to go on a recruitment speech. He responded, "Your majesty, I am afraid that a sword is no more than a metal stick in my hands." When the king dismissed him, he bowed again then withdrew as quickly as he could without appearing rude. He wasn't nervous, per say, but the sooner he left the less likely he was to offend anyone. Even though he had his fancy speech, he was still just a farmer, and he barely knew anything about courts and manners. Besides, he wanted to get back to Karin and make sure she was okay.

Luke considered briefly that his brother would have had no troubles being "noble," but then pushed it aside as best he could. After all, his brother wasn't here. Not like it mattered what might or might not have happened. Maybe his brother had already helped. After all, it was only because of him that Luke sounded even partway cultured. Again though, why was he thinking about this? It didn't matter!

Looking up, Luke found himself outside of Hank's inn. Well, he hadn't gotten his answer about a place to learn to use his sword. He walked in and looked around for Hank. It wasn't that hard to find him. He was talking to some customers, though, and Luke didn't feel right going to interrupt any business, so he chose instead of go and see how Karen was doing. As both a guy and her best friend, he felt it was his duty to see if she was holding up and doing what he could to make her feel better. He found the room she was staying in closed, so he leaned up against the door with his back and said, "Karen, are you doing any better?"

After wandering around the city for a few hours, Riku found himself back at the inn, though he had no idea how exactly he got there. Despite his abilities, directions and maps were a challenge for him. Mainly beacuse he got distracted by the thoughts of others and tended to follow them instead. He supposed that was what must have happened, that he had unconsciously followed someone's thoughts back here. He shrugged, what the hell. He was here simply beacuse his father had allowed him to tag along this time, and Riku intended to make the most of it. Looking around the area, trying to figure out whose thoughts it was he had followed, he became aware of another person's thoughts. Someone who seemed to be as deep in thought as he was.

Kora Vanth... In her late-twenties. Serves as a Junior Knight of the Umaine military. Even though there are bans in place to prevent the leaking out of such, some soldiers were willing to depart of some information regarding her abilities. Her rune is most likely the rune of Phantasm. She's the least likely to be targeted, if she's a knight... but all the way in Umaine? Are there any closer rune-bearers? Anyone that I can save? ...I need to hold it together. The lives of rune-bearers are at stake; I don't have time to be petty. Thomas Gareshim.....

Rune-Bearers? Very interesting...and saving them? Riku knew that his own rune could get him killed should it be discovered, but if this woman was looking for people like him, did that make her a rune-bearer as well. Her mind felt similar to his anyway, but it was different as well. Maybe she had a different ability to his? Only one way to find out...
He sat down near the strange woman, who had a glass sitting next to her, coming up with a subtle way to get her attention and let her know what he was without actually telling her and risking danger for both of them. He wasn't sure if it would work though, he had never used his power like this before, actually meaning to use it, rather than it being by accident. Allowing his mind to wander, he lightly nudged the glass, and was pleasently surprised when it moved a few inches away from the woman's hand. But it wasn't good enough, wasn't a noticable signal. So he nudged it again with his mind, knocking it over. There was still water in it, and Riku tried to stop it from going over the woman's notes, instead letting the water flow around it, leaving a precise, narrow gap between where the water stopped and the paper began. She would probably notice that, though it was tiring to keep the liquid in that shape, and away from the notes. Not too tiring though, and hopefully she would notice that the water was behaving in a very odd way.

They were traveling quickly now, not bothering to stop at the few small towns they passed. The horses moved with a steady gait, the children working on small tasks in the wagon- painting small wooden balls and blocks bright colors, polishing lanterns and bells, checking the supplies, and the hundred other small chores that needed to be done often. Juliette, Aden, and Matthias took turns riding in the wagon and walking, with Marne and Richard in the front.

They traveled like this for two days before crossing the Noapeta border. They traveled within sight of the sea, and Juliette was captivated by the constantly shifting water. The next day they stopped at a small stream to wash their clothes and many of their blankets. Juliette was scrubbing one of her several scarves when she saw movement on the opposite bank. Assuming it was only a rabbit or some other small animal, she ignored it and bent down over the water again, scrubbing. When the bushes rustled again, she frowned and sat back on her heels.

“Aden? Matthias?” Marne had gone back to the wagon for the next load, sitting farther back as the stream was surrounded by thick vegetation. Richard was also out of sight, draping the wet clothes over bushes and spreading them on the ground, with the children watching over them and running to fetch any that the breeze snatched. Aden and Matthias had left several minutes ago to hunt and forage. When no one answered, Juliette set the scarf on the pile of wet cloth next to her and stood, hand creeping for one of her knives, but she wasn’t prepared for a rough hand to seize her from the back, pinning her arms and covering her mouth.

“Gently now, girlie,” a low male voice whispering in her ear, “or I’ll ‘ave to use this here knife in yer back.” The prick of a blade at her back made Juliette remain frozen, mind racing. “Now I’m jus’ goin’ ta take yer jewl’ry and anythin’ else ye’ve got on ya. Don’t try anythin’ stupid.” Another man emerged from the other side of the stream, grinning.

“We ‘aven’t any problem wiv taking from yer corpse, if ye get my meanin’” he said, leering grin making Juliette cringe. His dirty hands seized the necklaces draped around her neck, and the first man had to release her mouth to allow his partner to tug the beads over her head. They tangled in her hair, and Juliette spit in his face. He slapped her across the face, not hard enough to bruise, but she didn’t cry out, mind racing frantically. Richard would probably come soon, and she feared the outcome, especially with that dagger held to her back. “Don’ be getting any fancy ideas, wench,” the bandit snapped. “We c’n kill ye right now if that’s what ye want.” He finally freed the necklaces from her hair, and several of them fell to the ground and rolled into the stream. The man cursed quietly, tucking the others into his belt. He reached for the sash around her waist, where her few coins were hidden, and paused, stepping closer and reaching around, fumbling for her corset laces. Juliette’s breath hitched in her throat, and she tried to shrink back, only to have the dagger pushed harder against her skin.

“We don’ have time fer that,” the man behind her hissed.

“Ah, calm down. I jes want a little fun. Her friends won’ be back fer a bit, Johnny n the boys'll make sure of that.” Juliette’s last hope of help vanished, and she forced herself to swallow. Her corset dropped to the ground, and he was reaching for her shirt when she finally acted, bouncing up on the balls of her feet and kicking him with both feet. He yelled, and she felt the dagger sting, but she ignored it and twisted, dropping free and starting to fall forwards. Her palms hit the ground and she forced herself to use her momentum to fly into a handspring, feet hitting the ground first. She wasn’t fast enough, though, and she felt a line of fire erupt across her back, from her shoulder blade to her hip. Her own dagger cleared its sheath at her waist and flew into the throat of her first attacker, cutting off his yell and sending him to the ground.

“Juliette?” Matthias erupted from the foliage, his blade drawn, and he took in the scene in a glance, darting forward to fell the other man where he stood. The corpse dropped, bright blood staining the clean water, and Juliette gasped in relief, trying to hold her shirt together. Matthias grabbed a shirt off the pile of laundry, all of which had mercifully been spared from the battle. He turned away while she drew it on. It was slightly too large, one of Aden’s, and she stepped over the body to grab her corset and jewelry. Silently the two of them grabbed the clothes from the ground and walked back to the wagon, where Richard was cleaning off his sword and Marne was calming the horses. They all exchanged glances, and Matthias dropped the load of wet clothes in the back of the wagon. Aden emerged from the woods with two rabbits held in one hand and his bow held in the other. He placed both in the wagon with the clothes, and the two of them grabbed the corpses and dragged it back into the woods. They came back five minutes later with a small handful of supplies. They drove away quickly, Richard tending to Juliette’s wound from the back of the wagon. It wasn’t deep, but it cut across her entire back, including the dragon mark that spiraled across her back and up her neck. One of the children reached over and trace it with a tentative finger.

“Juliette, what’s this?” She glanced back at him over her shoulder with a small smile.

“That? I don’t really know. I’ve always had it.”

“Don’t move,” Richard said gently, applying a gentle salve over the wound and bandaging it. They didn’t stop until they were far away, by another stream, this one more open, and they hung up the still wet clothes to finish drying. Juliette watching from next to the fire, before she fell asleep, exhuasted.

Madiea wasn't sure what on Earth happened but her glass of water suddenly moved away from her hand and tipped over. What made that happen? She didn't touch it at all and no one else touched it and it wasn't a windy day so what made it spill? Her first instinct was to reach for the notes but she then found that there was no reason to; the water was staying away from the notes, held back by some invisible force. She picked up the notes anyway and looked around. Surely, that couldn't have been an accident. Someone made it happen.

Her eyes landed on a young boy with black hair and purples eyes... that glowed? How odd. She noticed that the boy- who she guessed was about 14, given his height and rather youthful appearance- was somewhat fatigued and focusing on the water. It had to be him.

"... did you do this?" she softly asked.

Juliette enjoyed the luxury of riding in the wagon for the next two days, but when Marne suggested she not preform or practice for a week or so, Juliette protested violently, until the older woman finally gave in. Stretching by the fire late at night, Juliette silently thought that maybe Marne had been right, but she had already missed two days of stretches, something she couldn’t afford. Bending to her left, she tried not to wince as the motion pulled on the knotted scab stretching across her back. Giving up on that, she did a few simple steps and spins, resigning herself to another day without real stretching.
Having nothing better to do, she pulled out her slim wooden flute and played some simple scales, her fingers flashing over the holes. She played a few short tunes whilst everyone went through their nightly routines- stretching, polishing weapons, washing their faces in a small stream or using the water skins.

They reached the capital a week later, Juliette still not fully healed but having regained her full range of motion. They got there too late to preform, so they camped out on the outskirts of town, waiting for morning.