The Harbinger's Story

Mist clung to the ground like a rolling carpet, masking the leaves strewn beneath the feet of the travelers as they made their way towards the designated meeting place. Three had come, three and no more, as promised. Overhead, sprawling oak trees were laden with dead and dying leaves, all shaded in brilliant hues of orange, red, and yellow. In the stillness of the morning, there was no threat that the wind might cause the forest to shed its canopy, but the travelers knew that as winter continued its rapid approach that the forest would eventually have to shed its old coat, and embrace the cold sleep it had been preparing for all year long.

The man who led the sollemn trio was a sturdy figure, broad of shoulder and well muscled through his chest. His figure was long and lean, a warrior's build cloaked in the sewn coats of animal furs that his wife at home had made for him. His pale skin was painted with mud, only the whites of his eyes shone brightly through the camoflauge, and they were dark eyes, eyes hardened with time and longsuffering. He was a leader, and he'd come for the benefit of his people.

Walking at his right was a woman, slender of figure, but there was strength and grace in her stride. She did not wear a magestic cloak of furs as the first man did, but her shoulders were wrapped in a woven shawl the same color as the autumn leaves, with a deerskin dress hanging loosely about her ankles and hips. Her hair, as pale as early morning sunlight, hung loosely around her shoulders, framing a face that was not only slender, but unusually pure. There was raw beauty there, not an uncommon thing among the women of the tribes.

The third traveler, another man, and the first figure's sworn kraujo brolis or 'blood brother', carried a longbow behind his back, with his hands to the front, and empty, to signify his peaceful approach. He was dressed similarly to the woman, with a shawl about his shoulders. His breast was naked beneath the rough material, legs and feet clad in deerskin pants and mokkasins.

Overhead, sunlight began to pour through the branches, slicing through the mist and driving it away into the shadows. A flock of crows soared overhead, calling out their distinct, warning cry.

Man was in the forest.

The first figure lifted his hand, battle scarred and calloused as it was, and the other two came to a halt. He turned to the woman, who met his gaze with a steely one of her own. Something silent passed between them, and she quietly turned away, to lay her palm against the rough bark of the nearest tree. A moment passed.

"We bring three, as promise." she said, her voice carrying through the woods like an arrow. "No reason to hide, now."

The other three that arrived carried themselves well and high, and on horses they rode. Their horses were draped in ivory, and they themselves were draped in coats of purple and red colors; colors unobtainable to lower-class citizens of their society. These colonists, though humble at front, pulled their shoulders back and looked down upon the tribesmen as they arrived. Soon, however, they would present themselves at the same height, and their animals would stray backward.

A man asserted himself forward. He wore a coat of purple, and the others wore coats of red. He had black hair, though not thick in any aspect. To the tribesmen, he tipped his hat, though the partners to his side showed a weary unease.

"We, as well!" The front man said, with a smile broad as his shoulders. He opened his arms with welcoming, and it would soon become evident that perhaps, he had come to bring peace among the tribes. "I believe you know us - me, already. I am Illiam Ormond, and my partners, here, are Radimus Rune and Gerald Mason. There is, with certainty, no reason to hide, as I can only imagine that we all come in peace."

This charismatic man drew in a breath, and from his pocket, revealed a scroll. Perhaps the signing of a decree was foreign to the tribal folk, but it was certainly important to the colonists. It was a sign of confirmation; a written proof that a bond had been made, be it well or not. "And, as promised, a scroll validating our truce. It shall be hung on the wall of our greatest estate; a truce between us can bring nothing but good feelings and peace upon both of our peoples."

In the forest, bushes rustled, but it could be no more than the animals that roamed there. All in all, these men presented themselves peacefully, even with guns tied to their sides. Illiam himself bore no weapon, and instead, open hands.

"I have a pen, if you need." He said, patting on his jacket.

The tribesman remained quiet, stoic as the woman looked from the three and their horses to the men who walked with her. It was almost eerie, how silent they remained, as though they didn't need words to communiate at all.

"We have no trust of written word, your paper agreements. Paper is lost in fire, trampled underfoot, crumbled to dust with time." The woman finally said, her face strangely devoid of expression. "You will take our offer of peace, according to our traditions, or there will be no peace."

The man with the coat of furs stepped forward, extending a hand as if to shake Illiam's. His eyes were dark and unyeilding, his figure intimidating.

"A rune of trust." the woman explained, coming to stand by the first man's side. Her eyes, unlike the other's, were soft now. "So that we might know you mean us no harm."

Illiam looked taken aback, but he recovered quite quickly. He looked to his men, who nodded in agreement with the tribesmen. "But..." The man started. "If I accept this... rune? Then, we all must sign our paper. I must have something to bring back to the working men back South, shan't I, I can't imagine there anything but uproar. They are afraid of you - and your tribe, and if signing a document is a step further in garnering our trust, I cannot imagine why it shouldn't be."

That said, I am a man of peace. You may think us and our rituals useless, but we value them so. Take mind that this document will be well taken care of; framed in golden ivory and placed above the people's house's mantlepiece, for us to look upon every day. Surely, you can understand the meaning of that."

In good trust, however, I will accept your rune of trust first. I am not sure ..." Illiam hesitated. "How you do it. Magic is involved, I imagine?"

"Only some." the woman said. "It seeks out the intentions of your heart, determines that the motivations are true." The man extended his hand a little further.

"And if you do this, I do not see reason for us to not sign the paper as well. We have no fear, and we did not ask for your people to fear. After today we can all return to our lives uninterrupted." She looked to the first man.

"Take his hand, Illiam Ormond. We can begin."

Illiam's intentions were true, indeed. Those of his comrades were as well, even if they were scared. The man himself reached forward, before withdrawing his hand and ungloving it. Then, he clasped the designated man's hand. For a moment, he winced, as if he were about to experience some amount of pain or devilry.

Above them, in the trees, leaves rustled again. It would be then that a thin barreled rifle peaked through the bushes of the canopies. Knowing the tribesmen; knowing their vigilance of the forest, the man in the trees shot quickly. A blinding flash and a deafening pop echoed through the formerly calm forest. It was a shot to Galen Thorn, the tribe leader, and a shot aimed by a deadly, deadly marksman.

The cry of the animals echoed out after the pop of the gun, and the yelp of the commander, Illiam.

He fell to his knees and braced his head, while his fellows drew guns and looked back to the treetops where the flash originated from.

Galen stumbled back as the force of the blow took him hard in the chest. He had no chance to blink, or even breath as the bullet tore through his heart, startling it to a stop. He was dead before he hit the ground, blood blossoming through the thick coat of furs.

The woman, shocked speechless, was suddenly in motion, sliding to her knees at his side as his kraujo brolis took their leader's head into his hands.

Silence.

"Tetis," she whispered, her hair falling forward, brushing against the man's chest. Grief gripped her, a feeling so profound that she felt her hands compulsively clenching into fists. "Tetis!" she screamed.

Father.

The forest exploded into motion, a wind driving up so powerfully that it sent the horses screaming in the other direction. The trees seemed to bend and snap like streamers, leaves scattering in all directions in a curtain. The blood brother stood, removing the longbow from his back. His eyes were blinded with grief.

"You have deceived us!" The agonized woman shrieked, the ends of her hair soaked in her father's blood. "Not a treaty of peace, but of blood! You will die! All of you!"

And her agony echoed tenfold as the forest seemed to respond to the powerful tide of her emotional outburst. Even the ground rumbled threateningly.

"This was not our intention!" Illiam cried, he grief-stricken as well at the fall of the man infront of him. The fall of peace. His decree, which hung on his hip, stained with blood, and the purple of his coat as well. "We did not intend to bring blood! I implore you to trust us; whoever..." He stopped to breath and clutched his heart. He was a man of peace, but this situation was anything but.

"Whoever had done this dastardly deed is not of us! I swear it! Men, lower your arms!"

"Not while they aim threats at us!" But Radimus and Gerald already drew their pistols and trained them on the blood-brother. Another shot fired off, from one of the red-coats. The other, with wild eyes, used the opportunity to stagger backward into a run.

Illiam stayed on a knee.

The trees, which croaked, let release the figure which had fired the shot. The shot that ended peace among the tribesmen and the colonists. He flitted with a speed unmatched by those similar to him; surely, he would become a blur in the background amidst the fighting, retreating to which the men and their horses came.

In the moments that the responsible party had fled, the blood brother had attempted to string an arrow, to protect the woman, but the shot that the redcoat had fired took him in the shoulder. He dropped his weapon in a daze, looking down at the fallen bow with a strange, blank expression on his face.

The woman, with tears streaming down her cheeks, was clinging to her father's body, staring towards Illiam with no small amount of hatred written on her face. She stood, slowly, ignoring the blood brother as he turned to grab the body and begin to drag it away. When she approached the man on his knees, she too went to a knee before him, meeting his eyes with a barely controlled rage.

"Remember my face," she told him.

"It will be the last thing you see before death claims you."

Another burst of wind, strong enough to knock over a man who wasn't prepared, billowed from behind her, temporarily blinding the others as dirt and leaves were kicked up into the air.

Once the dust had settled, the forest would be empty.

The tribesmen were nowhere to be found.

It was the morning, and about the time when the colonists who braved the forests went out to lurk for their game. Rabbits flitted around, leaving tracks for those who didn't care for bigger game to follow. No, though, that would not come suitable for Adrien, the boy who worked hard. The boy who had to prove himself. The boy to which people still referred to as a boy.

On him was a sack and a rifle. It was an expensive one; a surprising thing for a poor man to wield, but every extra ounce that he'd saved had gone into it. Today was the day that he would get to use it. It would become a sad day when the polished, engraved weapon looked worn, but those were days Adrien had not thought of.

So he lurked, and stalked. He took the steps his teacher had trained him to take, and he picked fresh tracks from old ones. Still, they were tiny. To bring a single hare back home, with a bullet in it bigger than it's own head, would be only embarrassing to the poor boy. Still he persisted, until he found himself deep in the Forest of Whispers. Perhaps deeper than any sane colonist would dare to tread. This was important to him.

Finally, upon a tree, something caught his eye. A glimmer, it was, and if he was poor of sight he might think it a jewelry piece. His eyes flitted left and right, making sure he wasn't going to scare an animal away, before he'd rushed to the tree whose bark held it.

It was white fur.

A white hare, perhaps? But the fur was caught high, not low. A hare surely couldn't have caught itself there. It was worth investigating. His eyes trailed to the floor, where he would discover the dusty remnants of a tiger that once treaded there. A white tiger. Unimaginable.

With haste, he followed the prints, until he would come into a bush that blocked his path. He placed a hand on top of it, creating noise, before creeping to hide behind it.

There was a startled gasp. The bush trembled, a mass of soft snow and leaves shifted away from Adrien before an arm flashed out, scattering damp underbrush everywhere. The girl who appeared so suddenly from the small cocoon she'd made for herself looked as pale as the snow that surrounded her, her lips dark from the cold. She scooted back, uncaring of how much noise she made, before a grimace of pain etched its way onto her expression, and she turned away from the boy for a moment to observe something that, at first, he could not see.

But she turned back quickly, pulling a knife and pointing it rather threateningly in his directly. She was still sitting, though, and had made no effort to stand. It was almost as if she couldn't.

Her eyes bore into his, dark with exhaustion, with the knife glinting between them.

"Woah!" Adrien cried, startled. When it wasn't the shape of a fleeing hare or deer he'd come upon, but a hand and a woman, he stepped back. It was only correct, though. He was coming upon tribe territory, surely. They were in the deep woods. It made sense. In an attempt to be unthreatening, he lowered his rifle, and swung it over his shoulder.

He looked to the trees. Perhaps it was in fear of another tribesman being there. They owned the forest; lived in it. What did he have? Stony walls. The colonists knew no master of the trees or the forest, and it was even rumored that these people could control the forest; that when one wept, the forest ached. When one laughed, the forest's light shone through. These were only fantastical myths, however.

And how would it be that such a master of the forest was in front of him, beholding a knife, almost helpless? If anything, it made him curious, but the boy was light on his toes all the same.

He raised his hands.

"You are... From the tribes?" He asked, after a long bout of silence. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'll leave. Y'don't have to try and hurt me either."

One hand gestured for the knife to be put down.

Her hand shook, the steadiness of her gaze faltering. Her eyes flickered over his figure, towards the gun on his back, before returning to his face. The pile of snow shifted, falling away as she moved her legs. At least, it seemed as if she was moving her legs. One remained pinned beneath the other, and every time she tried to move it, pain flickered behind the steel of her gaze.

She sighed noisily, lowering her arm and turning away from the other before she pushed the snow off of her ankles. The ugly, mangling bear trap glittered deceptively, clamped hard on her leg. The bleeding had stopped, the blood staining the fabric of her breeches as well as the snow. She crossed her arms over her chest to quell the trembling in her arms, and looked back to Adrien. There was something like the barest hint of a plea there now.

"You want me to die." she said, in the language he understood. Remarkable, considering the reptuation her kind had received. She looked back to the trap.

"If you leave, I die here."

"Hey, no, don't go assuming anything. I want you to die just as much as you want me to die." Adrien started, and quickly revised himself. "Er, I mean, if you tribey folk ain't in 'kill all colonists' mode like they say you are."

The boy came to the side of her, and took notice of the trap. At first, he grimaced, and then drew a stressed hand over his hair, which he grabbed in tension for a moment before releasing it.

"Hell."

For a moment, he stared. Staring took up a lot of his time when he'd come upon the woman. What would he do? She settled her knife, and he settled his gun. Perhaps it was an unspoken peace treaty of it's own; at least, between the two of them. Still, fear welled in him the closer he'd stepped to the woman. There were tales of colonists being attacked, at least one murdered. Was this the way that it happened?

"I don't know if I can get that open... Looks painful. It's real, innit? You're not just trying to trick me into getting into stab range, are you?" He asked.

She gave him a look that clearly expressed her answer.

"Fine, fine! Alright. In good faith, mind handing me over your knife? I don't think it just looks pretty; I might be able to get the trap open with it. Never tried it before, but I don't set these, either. They're for bears."

The boy held a hand out.

She seemed uncertain. Her jaw clenched for a moment as she stared at the weapon he was asking for. There was a tense moment of silence, and another audible sigh, before she picked up the knife by the blade and handed it over to him hilt-first.

"I would help," she said, her eyes drifting to the back of her hand. "But my fingers are numb."

There was a look of disappointment in her eyes.

Adrien cautiously took the knife, and in assuming that the woman was no longer armed, hastily knelt in front of the leg that had been clamped on. It disgusted him; a surprise, really, for he'd seen the gorey death of so many animals. Still he cringed, though, and he empathized the pain.

He stuck the knife in the opening of the trap. It was pried open by the woman's leg, though as it cut through her skin, only by a little. The idea was stupid. He needed something bigger. Mindlessly, he sat it back in front of her, and reached for his rifle.

She moved faster than he could properly react to. A second knife appeared in a flash, against the pulse of his throat before he could even blink.

"I'm wounded. Not a fool." she hissed.

"Je... Fuck. Big a knife as it is, it's not big enough to pry the trap open. Not without me losing a finger in the process. Do you want to let me jam it open with my stock, or are you going to cut my throat before I can?"

It was a matter of trust. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Numb fingers my arse."

Her eyes narrowed on his face, before moving to the weapon. She seemed to be silently deliberating.

"Tell me what you are doing then." she replied grumpily, before pulling the knife away.

"The stock of my rifle is thicker and heavier than your knife. If I used your knife, I could slip and cut my finger off, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take for some tribelady who almost cut m'throat. It's probably a little bit thicker than your leg, which would give you some leeway to pull your leg out."

Adrien huffed. He cautiously began to pull the gun off of his back again.

"I just bought this, too. Damn expensive. Lucky I'm not my father, hell, anyone else might've just left you here."

She was quiet for a few moments, stubbornly looking away from him. Then, after a minute or two...

"I know. You were...kind...to help me."

She refused to meet his eyes, but she was obviously thinking of something. Her brow was knit, and her lips occasionally parted, as if she wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say. Then,

"Are you afraid of us?"

"I'm afraid of pointy things at my throat, and stray cats, but that's another tale." Adrien said, as he withdrew the gun from his back. He held it in front of him. "But we? Yes. We're afraid of you."

He flipped the gun around, so the barrel faced himself, before he lightly pushed the stock into the opening of the trap.

"This is going to hurt. Say when."

She turned slightly, grabbing a hold of her leg with both hands, just behind her knee. She took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly and said, "Now."

"Take it out..."

Suddenly, Adrien latched his leg to the side of his gun, and shoved the stock into the beartrap. The unforgiving steel would open further, it's teeth unfastening itself from the woman's leg, and now biting into the shiny polished stock of the boy's new rifle.

"Now!"

She pulled the leg out quickly, releasing her leg and digging her palms into the snow to drag her body physically away from the bear trap. Visibly shuddering, she sat forward, her chest against the back of her leg as she leaned over to observe the wound. It didn't look too great, to be perfectly honest.

She looked a little ill, as if the movement had reawakened the pain. She leaned against the trunk of the oak that towered over them, her forehead damp with sweat. She licked her lips, panting for a moment before she softly said,

"We're human. Like you."

Adrien gritted his teeth and shied his face away when she pulled her leg from the trap. Soon, he slammed a foot on it, and thrusted his rifle out of the trap as well. Then, he turned to face her, his eyes taking in her face rather than her leg, now.

"Well, are you afraid of us?"

He latched the rifle onto his back again, and reached to grab her first knife, before offering it back. Hilt first.

Her eyes slitted open tiredly, but she reached for the knife and clumsily slipped it back into its sheath on her hip, regardless.

"Not afraid enough." she said in a tone almost too quiet to hear. Her eyes flickered up to his face.

"What's your name?"

"Adrien Rune. Yours?"

Reflexively, his hand shot up, before he realized who he was conversing with and let it rest at his side again. Then, his eyes traveled to the ultimately unignorable.

"How do you intend getting back to your village?"

She looked ready to answer, but a voice from behind Adrien startled them both. A figure stood, clad in dark clothing, with his face partially obscured by the hood that hung over his brow. On his right hand was a gauntlet, polished to a glossy sheen that glittered as menacingly as the bear trap had. The girl tensed, her hands going for the knife at her side.

"Good job, Adrien!" he said cheerfully, clenching his hand into a fist. Three wicked blades extended from a compartment on the back of the gauntlet as he advanced on the girl.

"It's about time we gave those tribals a taste of what we've been going through these last few weeks."

A colonist voice. Unaccented. It was one of his own. He would be reprimanded for even coming near a tribesperson, if not punished for fraternizing with the enemy. Releasing them from one of the traps would be profound. His father would have brought Aja to Blakestown and executed her himself.

He froze up, unaware of the imminent threat. The voice came from behind.

"This isn't what it looks like - "

Then, he pivoted in the grass and placed a hand on the man's chest, intent on staying him in his place. That was the intent, until he'd seen the man's garb and threatening leer. Almost immediately, his hand shot to pull his rifle from his back, for he did not carry his skinning knife in arms reach.

He gave a startled gasp as he'd done so, and almost yelled to Aja to run, before he'd realized what he'd be saying.

The man stepped back, crossing his arm over his chest before swinging his fist in a backhand across Adrien's jaw.

Crack.

Adrien's vision blurred, and he stumbled backward before falling to the ground, his hands then clenched onto his jaw. The boy muttered nothing more than incoherencies past that.

The man smirked beneath his hood, looking up in time to see the furious slash of a blade come within a hair's bredth of his nose. He ducked back, swooping underneath a second swing of another blade. The girl was on her feet in spite of the injury, her arms tucked close to her sides. She kept her weight on her good leg, watching the other as he corrected his balance. His free hand flashed out, a blade flying from his fingers towards the girl's shoulder. She managed to duck, glancing back only for a moment before turning her attention to her opponent.

She'd let her guard down.

That gauntlet came crashing down on the left side of her face, blinding her, before his foot caught her in the chest and sent her careening to the ground. She moaned, pressing her forearm to the bleeding wounds, her other eye blurred with the blood that seeped over her face. The man knelt down next to her, confident in his victory.

"It was precious, watching you weep over your dead father. And don't act like you can't understand me." He reached for her hair, knotting it in his fist and dragging her closer. She cried out, once, before his boot pressed against her mouth roughly.

"Go back and tell those tribal animal friends of yours that a storm is coming. Do you hear me? And if I see you again, I'll make you wish that knife had hit you straight in the heart."

He let her go, left her lying there, and walked over to Adrien. Without a warning, he grabbed the young man by the arm, hauling him to his feet before slinging him over his shoulders.

Not once did he glance back the girl's way, and she didn't bother to linger. Keeping her arm to her head, she stumbled to her feet, and slowly began to limp into the woods, leaving all but her knives behind.

It had been roughly an hour since the darkly clad, mysterious third party deposited Adrien on one of the sick beds in the make-shift hospital that had been created in one of the back rooms of the town hall. The nurse and the physician collaborated to let Adrien's father know about his state as privately as possible, however, due to the nature of small towns and the fact that whispers spread like wildfires, nearly a dozen of the townspeople were present on the doorstep, inquiring after Adrien's condition and the circumstances surrounding his injuries. The nurse, a portly, aging woman who had seen her husband and all of her children buried thanks to the summer flu, regarded the growing crowd with a simpering stare, her fat arms crossed over her chest in a clear display of passive aggression.

"Will he be alright at least?" Jason Porter called from the back. The cobbler was too nosey for his own good, possibly from the practice of sticking his face into many a smelly shoe. He had a nose for good gossip.

"I'm not going to be deliverin' any information until his father comes 'ere to see him."

"Miss Patsy!"

The woman's piggish eyes turned towards the young, gangly lad who unceremoniously elbowed his way through the crowd, his mop of dark hair sticking up in all directions as he loped up the stairs to stand before her. Even though Xander was easily six inches taller than she, the young man felt intimidated by the glare that met his eyes.

"When I said his father, I meant--"

"Oh I know what you meant. You've always been such a good, dedicated nurse. But, see, here's the thing, if Adrien's dying in there, who better than myself to cheer him up as he slips into the afterlife? Wasn't there some woman as gracious as yourself who suggested that good company always eased an aching soul?" He batted his eyes.

Patsy did not look amused.

His expression withered. "Ma'am, if he was awake, he'd be asking for me. I know it."

Patsy glared for a moment longer, before rolling her eyes and jerking her thumb over her shoulder. With a cheerful grin, Xander bent and kissed the woman straight on the mouth until she blushed, before he danced out of the way of her swatting hands and back on into the sick room.

"But what about--" came an indignant cry.

"SHUT IT ALL OF YOU!" Patsy hollared, her face still a rather distinct shade of red.

As Xander slipped into the room, he noticed immediately that one side of Adrien's face was peculiarly swollen. He knew that sort of blow. It wasn't the kind one received from a fall. It was the kind one got from someone else's fist.

But he determined to keep himself cheerful for the sake of his friend. Walking over to his bed, he sat himself down, before putting a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"You're supposed to shoot the deer, Dree. Not head-butt it into oblivion."

A figure pushed through the crowd, so very unhappy in his demeanor. He pushed past Jason Porter, the cobbler, who hollered until he'd realized the assaultant. He pushed past Myriam and Gregory, and soon, he sidestepped into the sick office, ignorant even of the nurse's presence. This man's face was red with embarrassment and anger, and he stopped in the doorway to dispel those who insisted on watching.

"Go! The lot of you! Leave!" Radimus hollered, with a flicker of his wrist. The man's voice was maddened, and his eyes, surely wild. A few whispers crossed the crowd. A few dispelled, but the nosiest of them stayed. The man, with no time on his hands to fight the colonists, turned with a huff into the room.

The lean figure that stood over Adrien's bedside was soon enough grasped by the back of the collar and shoved aside with reckless abandon by the angry father, whose words were far too loud for the sick office to bear.

"What is the meaning of this? Have you gathered the townspeople? And what of my son, who I am the last to hear of?!" He demanded, of the tubby nurse.

Xander managed to catch himself before he went careening into a counter, then decided to make rude gesticulations behind Radimus' back while the other man screamed at Patsy.

The flustered nurse was back to being all business. She regarded Radimus patiently, before her shoulders lifted in a heavy sigh. "We've been trying to look for you, Mister Rune. But when the townsfolk decided to come to harrass my patient, your son," she clarified, "I saw fit to stand by his side and keep out the riff raff while he rested."

She glanced to Xander briefly, who immediately stilled with a congenial smile on his face.

"Some figure came dragging him in from beyond the Wall." the nurse explained. "Said he'd been attacked by a tribal when he wandered too far." She sighed heavily. "He'll need your support, rather than your reprimand, Radimus."

It was easy to see that Patsy was somewhat of a mother to all, and there wasn't a single man or woman who escaped her counsel.

"You don't tell me how to govern my son!" Radimus ferociously replied, not keen on shrinking from the woman's intimidating maternal instincts like the rest. He stopped in his tracks, and pivoted to Adrien's bedside, his knuckles white with anger. "And that's it? Some figure? You've not a name, or a face? None of which I can speak to? This care is a shame!"

Adrien emitted a groan; he was coming back to the rest of them. Radimus had taken it as a sign to speak with his son.

"And you! What have you been told about the natives? What were you looking to do, wandering that far? Impress someone? The deer we eat are on the border! I thought you a smart boy. You should know this! Even after my speech!" He exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the bedside. The boy's eyes wearily opened to behold the vicious voice of his own father, who had certainly been getting ahead of himself.

"That's enough!" Patsy shouted, voluminous even for her.

"I will not have you upsetting him while he's still healing. If you do not calm down, I'll have you removed too. My priority is him." She pointed to the boy in the bed. Xander, standing off to one side, looked incredibly pleased at the turnout of the conversation.

"Perhaps you should step out, Mister Rune. Get some fresh air." he suggested unhelpfully.

Radimus regarded Patsy with hate, struggling to keep his own abusive paternal instinct over hers. Ultimately, he regarded her with no other option than to leave, as any words that would come from his mouth would certainly be of reprimand. He pushed out of the room, and shoved a townsfolk on the way out.

Adrien painfully looked between Xander and Patsy, vision still blurry. Even then, he mustered a smirk, though the other side of his face stayed swollen and bruised.

A voice came from outside.

"Well, that's'is father, then! What 'appened?"

"Xander, mind you go close the door." Patsy suggested, tiredly rubbing at her temples before disappearing back into a store room. The sounds of rummaging could be heard, as well as mild cursing. Patsy had never stuck to what her gods had told her, and spoke as she liked. Xander, on the other hand, did as he was bid, closing the door on the faces of the curious townsfolk before returning to the side of his friend.

"You look a right mess, mate." he muttered, showing concern, rather than playfulness, for the first time that day.

"What the fuck happened to you out there?"

"'Ead-butted a deer." Adrien said, with an attempt to lighten the mood. He hadn't the slightest idea why it had come to mind, though.

"W'ad ... 'Ow'd I get here?" He asked, obviously confused. His words were slightly muffled by the swelling of his face. "I got punched, s'what. 'Ow long I been out? Cun't feel m'face."

He brought a limp hand up to touch it.

Xander swatted it away.

"Stop that." he scolded. "One of them tribals got you good huh? Good thing they didn't gut you and leave you for the wolves."

There was no hint of teasing in his tone. "Why'd you go out so far, Dree? You know that place isn't safe for us. Like it as not, y'do have a girl you're eventually gunna provide for."

He paused for a minute.

"That idn't why you went out there is it?"

"W'uh? Nay, not th'..." Adrien hesitated. "Saw some white fur, 'ad m'new rifle. Was jus trackin' a tiger. Bet she was good, tooh. Didn't find'er, tracks were dry..." The hand that had been smacked away went to brace his head again, though not his jaw. He wracked his mind for the memory of the event.

"S'a ... Saw a tribe lady caugh' in a trap, n'I couhdn't just leave wifhout lettin'er free," he recalled.

Xander stared.

"You saw one of them?" he asked, his eyes wide. In the meantime, he wondered what kind of a trap could be set for a human being...

"What was she like? Did she try to gut you? Why did ..." but the sentence trailed off. Adrien was not his father. Adrien would have let the girl go.

That's one thing Xander loved about his friend.

"Shuh was stuck in a bearh trahp, guttin' me wouldn't be good for eifher of ush. She held her knifh up like I was gonna shoot her, though. Dunnoh much abouth her past thath. Think her name was..." Adrien tried hard to recall. "I didn't get her namhe."

No. He was too busy being grounded to get her name, but she certainly got his.

"Ah." Xander didn't seem too enlightened by his explanation. The young man sighed. "Well, next time, try to take someone with yah, that way you won't come back a bloodied pulp, and maybe we'll get her name before she beans you in the jaw."

"It washn't --"

He looked like he was ready to say more, but there was a soft knock on the door, and it opened to reveal Ellie and her father. As usual, she looked impeccable, and embarrassed. She didn't seem to know what to say upon laying eyes on Adrien.

Cavis was there to recover for her poor form.

"They didn't knock out any of your teeth did they?" he asked, smiling good naturedly as he gently touched a hand to his daughter's shoulder to guide her forward. "Has your father stopped by? He was pretty worried."

"Oh, he did." Xander cut in, glancing to Ellie before meeting Cavis' eyes. "Left an impression. He needed to take a walk."

"How are you feeling?" Ellie asked, shyly approaching the bed as she gazed down at Adrien. It was clear she didn't know exactly what she was supposed to do, and she almost looked like she was afraid to touch him.

Cavis and Xander exchanged glances briefly.

Adrien's explanation was also interrupted by the entrance of Cavis and Ellie. He attempted a smile, but only half of his face seemed to raise. "Hope I didn't miss another meetinh at th'manor." He joked, in an attempt to ease the tension of the room. "Don't 'ave t'act all scared."

"Nay, m'teeth're all there, sos m'beautiful smile. S'm'noggin I'm worried about. Yae, as Sandy said, Radimus stopped by. 'E means well, though I didn't'ear half th'words 'e was sayinh'."

Adrien looked toward Ellie as she approached, his smile softening a little more. "Feelin' like I got socked in th'jaw. It ain't as big'a deal as people'rh makin' it. 'Ow're ye? Look right pale."

"Ellie took the news a bit hard. She was very worried." Cavis interjected, putting an arm on his daughter's shoulder. The girl glanced away, towards the floor as she chewed on the corner of her lower lip.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." she added. Her lips pursed tight, and with a slight flourish, she turned from her father and excused herself before hurriedly leaving the room.

There was a beat of silence.

"I'm thinkin the meat on yer face made her a bit queasy, Dree." Xander noted, one brow lifting as the door swung shut behind the lady's skirts. Cavis sighed heavily.

"You'll have to excuse her. She's never done well around the sight of blood, and I think her concern for you is unsettling her." He gave Adrien an encouraging smile. Patsy entered the room not long after, with a draught that smelled curiously of whiskey.

"Alright, the lot of you need to leave so he can sleep." she told them. This time, Xander didn't seem to protest. Especially when Cavis extended an invitation to dinner that evening with them.

"Ah, my pleasure sir. Dree," Xander saluted the other lad before giving him a wave. "I'll see you in the mornin. Rest easy, mate."

And the pair exited the room in time for Patsy to hand over the steaming mug.

"Ignore what you think it might taste like and swallow the whole of it." she said, giving him a look that was not meant to be argued with.

"Well, s'nice knowinh' she wadn't runnin' cause she doesn't like me, huh?" Adrien joked, to Cavis. He watched the trail of Ellie's dress disappear from the room with a frown and a wistful sigh. The girl wasn't at all as bad as they'd made her seem, with their titles. Titles, which he was guilty of. Soon, Patsy ushered everyone else out as well, and Adrien set his head to look at the ceiling.

"Lemme go wif'm, Patsy. I'm well enough to walk. If y'can feed me brews, I can feed myself. I'll just go back to m'house and sleep there."

He took the steaming mug in hand and plugged his nose. Then, he shot back the concoction as well as he could, which wasn't quite well enough. It stained his shirt and sent him into a coughing fit, which took a bit of recovery, before he'd downed the rest.

Patsy smiled.

"Believe me, lad. There idn't too much you'll be able to do once that stuff settles. Y'might as well just let yerself rest for the night." With that, she disappeared from the room again, going away from the sick bay and into the town hall.

Not too long after she'd left, softer footsteps approached Adrien from the head of the bed.

"Looks like someone backhanded you good, boy. Giving your old man lip?"

It was the man in the dark clothing. The pistol in his hand made it clear that Adrien was not to make a sound.

Adrien's eyes, which had slowly been lulling their ways to sleep, softly opened when he'd heard footsteps. Perhaps it was just Patsy again, checking in on him, he thought. When his tired eyes adjusted to dark.

And even though darkness inhibited the room, the man's cloak was darker. The boy's eyes followed his form down, to the glint of the gun.

"I didn't thinkh y'very old at all, actually."

Even with the gun in the room, the boy displayed both a fear and a callous, obvious hate for the cloaked man. "Caught me there."

"I just came to give you a little bit of advice." the man said, a smile in his words. He came around, more to the front so that the gun was clearly visible. "Early this morning you were attacked, rather viciously, by a tribal wench who intended to nail your heart to the wall of her cave. Gave you a good blow to the jaw before a masked stranger swept in to save you." He gestured to himself.

"At least, that's what you're going to tell people, Adrien Rune. Are we clear on this?"

"N'what do you plan on doing if I don't? Acting like a native came here and shot me, too? 'Cause they very well have guns, don't they? Stop showingh that around, and g'out of'ere!"

Adrien looked to the gun, and his hand felt for the lantern at his bedside. He grabbed it, and deftly swung it in the man's direction. It was nothing but a measly lantern, but the point was made enough.

The man blocked the blow with his forearm, before seizing the lantern and tearing it from Adrien's hand. He was fast, frighteningly so.

"There's a few neat ways to kill a boy, but I can think of a few fancier ways to kill his little fiance." There was nothing but menacing promise in his tone.

"You make the choice, Adrien."

Adrien scowled, the swollen part of his face only hindering the emotion little. He seemed to huff, then, and waved the dark-coated man away. His voice shrunk, and his eyes diverted themselves.

"Get out of here, why don't y'? 'Fore I scream, and someone comes running. Leave!" He hissed.

The man chuckled.

"You didn't hear it, but that girl screamed something fierce when I sliced up her face. She's probably the ugliest thing wandering around in those woods now." The man shrugged. "Good riddance. Enjoy the rest of your night, young man."

And before Adrien had a chance to see where he'd gone off to, he disappeared.

Radimus waited for his guest of honor to arrive.

In preparation, there was not much. Unlike the other people he'd ever so rarely invited to his home, he was not trying to impress. The only thing on his mind was the business that they'd had to get done. So, the couches were prepped with pillows, the fireplace stoked, and the man who had done such a miniscule amount of work waited impatiently for a knock on his door.

There were no others in the house, surely. Adrien had gone hunting only recently then, and wasn't expected to return in, at the very least, an hour. So they had time to converse; time enough.

The knock was not long in coming. Upon answering the door, the man who had come to call was resting lazily against the frame of the door, his chin angled slightly towards his chest as he gazed at Radimus up through the thickness of his lashes. Dark eyes, hard and calculating, narrowed slightly as his thin lips pulled into a rather mocking smirk.

"You called?" he said, his voice a deep, rumbling drawl.

"Only to discuss business." Radimus replied, with a certain anxiousness. He ushered the man inside to come in, have a seat, or stand if he'd really liked. The point was to discuss, not to mingle.

"Adrien will not be a problem. He's off... In the woods, somewhere. Speaking of Adrien," The man's gaze sharply shot upward. "If, somehow, he gets in your way, you may deal with that, but to kill him would be nothing more than an embarrassment. Completely unacceptable, no matter how his ignorant mind sympathizes with the natives. Are we understood on this matter?"

He laughed, an abrupt, booming noise, and planted his hands on his hips. "I could have killed your son twice over if I cared enough. He's too damn nosey for his own good, Radimus. Why aren't kids practical and by the book anymore? Like Rawls' little girl."

The smirk became a little more pronounced. "By the way, good find. Adrien sure as hell wasn't going to get a girl like that on his own."

"Yes, well, the boy reacts poorly to reprimand. He's of his own thoughts. Spare the rod and spoil the child. Bah! If I'd more control over him, I would surely make it so he wasn't such a ..." Radimus shook his head, as if he'd lost the word. "A smack or thrice does him no good, however."

"Elleanore, herself, is nothing but a step forward on my part to be inducted and introduced to those of higher-class than I. With how he is, I imagine the boy couldn't find a girl worth or above his own if he'd even worn fine clothes and spoke properly. Formerly, I might have chastised you for such a comment, but it dawns on me now that it is not a comment so far off."

Radimus moved to his own couch, and promptly sat down.

"Are you ready to talk business? I didn't call you to mingle, however charming your presence might be." Radimus said, a certain sarcasm to his voice.

"You're the one doing most of the talking." the other replied, folding a pair of lean, muscular arms over his chest. He tilted his head to one side, blue eyes turning gold in the reflection of the firelight. His smile melted to a look of calm calculation.

"You'd said something about damage control." he said, the red of his ear-length, wavey hair glittering like spun gold as he turned away.

"Make another mess that I need to clean up?"

"Gerald Mason. The man was something of a recruit; used his family ties to join Ormond and I at the initial meeting with the natives. I had only met the man a few times previously, and he was meek, with a slippery tongue. I'm not quite sure he could keep the incident under wraps. As a riot of some sort would surely break out if the people had found we'd lied to them, I want him eliminated, if we are to cover our bases. He was a coward, anyway. Ran away when you'd taken your shot."

Radimus' eyes rested on the man, a tinge of annoyance settling behind them.

"Ormond would be a problem if he hadn't gone along with it. I believe he's to keep his lips shut, and as he stands, he is the outer cover of our operations, anyhow. To kill him would devastate the people."

"I thought the general idea of being here was 'kill the tribals'." the man replied disapprovingly. "What am I supposed to do? Drag this man out by his ear and say the tribals killed him?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Listen, killing savages is one thing, but another man?" He jabbed a finger in Radimus' direction. "A man who considers you a friend, no less. It's something else entirely."

A pause, and then the man's smile turned wicked.

"Yet, as always, your wish is my command."

Radimus' face twisted into an angry scowl, before he'd hastily stood up and slapped the other man's hand away. "You do not lecture me on morals, sir, when you know the situation that adheres you to I. It is a moralless concept in itself, no less a binding one. Do not bring hypocrisy into my household."

"Yet..." He continued, his hand lowering. "What you speak of isn't so bad an idea. If he must be killed, it must not be evident that it be by one of us. You have experience in knocking people out and dragging them to places, only to blame it on the tribals, have you not?" He asked, his tone reprimanding.

The man chuckled heartily.

"What? Now you suddenly care about the boy? I'm surprised." He stretched his arms over his head, looking more bored by the minute. "We finished? I have other things to do."

He eyed Radimus lazily.

"The sentiment I shared was only to inform you of your own hypocrisy." Radimus said, a scowl ever-present on his face. "If you are so busy, then take such a thing out of my household." Radimus sat down, and squeezed the middle of his brow.

"You are dismissed."

It had been a long time since Aja hadn't felt safe in the place she was trying to sleep. The day of her arrival, she'd spent most of her time avoiding contact with others, trying to mingle without drawing attention to herself. She watched and listened to the colonists as they went about their day, talking about Adrien's return, and the recent murder of that man who had been present on the Treaty day. Overall, she'd noticed nothing different, nothing significant anyway. The colonists existed just like the tribals did.

Meeting Adrien's friends had been the next big step, and somewhat of an impulsive move on her part. She was happy that she had done it, overall. Xander and Elleanore seemed like good people, and she was happy that they had accepted her as well as they could. She sensed tension from Ellie, something she didn't really understand, but it wasn't something that neither of the girls directly acknowledged. As a result, they fell into a pattern of polite exchanges, right up to the moment where Ellie was introducing Ajani to her father.

Cavis Rawls was a pleasant man, a ponderous figure that reminded her of her own father. He welcomed her into his home without question, showed her to a room, and wished her a good night's rest.

She couldn't sleep, though. She took off the scarf, let her hair fall around her shoulders, and combed her fingers through the knots in an effort to soothe herself. The small room had a bed, a window a table off to the side and a looking glass. Oddly, she tended to avoid that. The idea of seeing her own reflection was disconcerting.

Ellie knocked on the door the next morning, peeking her head inside, only to find that Aja was sitting in a chair by the window, her hair undone, with dark circles under her eyes. At the sound of the entry, she turned, fixing Ellie with a wide-eyed gaze.

The latter tried for a smile, noticing Aja's scar, but not paying it any attention. "Hungry?" she asked.

Quietly, Aja nodded, reaching for the scarf in her lap and beginning to wrap it up around her face, knotting her hair to make sure everything was artfully covered.

Breakfast was an uneventful affair. Aja barely ate, too exhausted to have an apetite. Then, when it was deemed appropriate, she helped Ellie clear the table, and then excused herself to walk around outside. She took her cloak from a peg by the front door, and swung it around her shoulders before disappearing to walk around outside.

"Quiet girl," Cavis noted, looking up from something he was writing. Ellie looked out after Aja, her brow furrowed.

--

She avoided contact with others, as she had the day before, simply meandering and learning like she promised she was going to. Eventually, though, the warmth of the sun, and her lack of sleep made her incredibly drowsy. She moved away from the town, towards a copse of trees that grew near the public stables. She sat down at the base, removing her cloak and covering her legs with the fabric, before leaning her head back against the bark and closing her eyes.

She hadn't intended to fall asleep.

While dreams pulled her away from reality, a figure emerged from the trees behind her. He walked casually, his hands slung in his pockets, red hair glinting in the early afternoon sunlight as he paused to look down at the deeply sleeping young woman.

His brow furrowed as he noticed her face, the small edges of a scar poking out from underneath the scarf. In his pockets, his hands gripped into fists.

Adrien's morning had been uneventful. His father had kept to himself for the most part, apart from a few leery looks from beyond a book. His eyes had done the same so many times before, when he was plotting what to speak to Adrien about. The boy made sure to get out of the house quickly, before Radimus' gaze could fully pierce him, the vindictive wrath that the man had harbored.

He was unkempt, that said. His hair was hardly brushed, and his eyes bore dark circles. Still, he used the cane around town, as if he had still been injured. His eyes mostly stuck to the ground, until the familiar form of Ajani had come upon him, sitting beneath a tree, leagues away. Even more concerning was the man standing over her, whose figure seemed so familiar...

"Milly!" He yelled, hoping to catch the man's attention, rather than Ajani's. He paced in her direction, an arm upright and a large faux smile.

The man turned, scowling a moment as the girl beneath him began to stir. He turned, stalking away from where Aja had fallen asleep, until his figure disappeared between the houses off to his right. Aja's eyes opened, and she slowly sat forward, grimacing slightly as she reached to rub a crick out of her neck. Sighing, she adjusted the scarf to cover her scars, drawing her knees up and lowering her forehead to rest against them.

It seemed as if she was entirely unaware of what had transpired.

When the man turned away when Aja awoke, Adrien had sprinted after him. When he had gotten to Aja, however, the man was long gone. Between the direction he disappeared and Aja he looked, with an alarmed look on his face. His chest heaved. Adrien looked upon Ajani as if she were an innocent child, ready to stick her fingers into a fire.

"Hey, Milly." He started. By the look on her face, he knew she'd had no idea. He lumbered to her, and collapsed next to her. "Y'know, it ain't bright t'sleep out here. Did y'sleep last night?"

She lifted her head, glancing over to Adrien with a tired look on her face. "No." she said quietly. "Not at all, actually. First time I've had that problem in a long while."

She stretched, stifling a yawn. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," she managed before letting her arms fall into her lap. She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes again. "You look pretty tired too. Did you sleep?"

"Not well. Radimus has been burning holes through me with'is eyes. Think he suspects something about me."

Adrien let loose another wistful sigh, before his head laxed and he looked to 'Milly'. "I don't know if it's a good idea, but knowing me, I don't think I could not yell at'im about it. I might just end up socking m'own dad. That'd be a riot, aye?"

"He worries me." she said quietly, her eyes still closed. "Not as much as the cloaked man does, but your father..." She glanced sideways to him, then let the comment fall flat. "I suppose I just wish I knew what he was thinking."

"I know what he's thinking." Adrien said. "He believes the tribals are savages and witches. He wants land. Above all, he wants Blakes t'thrive. It'd be a good cause, if th'man didn't care who he stomped on in the process."

He frowned. "When we came here, we'dn't know that you lived here first. N'it scared us. It wasn't part of th'plan. I wasn't alive during that first time, but... People like m'father act like th'only solution t'making peace is destroying th'people who have th'potential t'cause harm."

She watched him, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, and contemplation.

"It was certainly a surprise to my father when he rode the coast and discovered that a wall had been constructed." she said with a small smile. "Yet, no efforts were really made until it became clear that there were people beyond the wall. That frightened us too. To an extent, it still does. We had seen game that had been injured by your weaponry, and it was foreign to us, something we couldn't stop no matter how hard we tried." Her brow furrowed.

"You were raised amongst people who feared and hated us." she said softly, glancing towards the town.

"Why didn't you leave me to die?"

"Because I'm not a monster. At first, I thought that there were no other colonists who'd go'n shove their rifle in that trap, but now...? I think that most colonial men'd do it, if y'd put down your knife. We're not all bad people. We have women in our town that're just like you, too. And, like y'said, we're all human. I s'pose I didn't leave you t'die 'cause I've got a conscience." He said.

"I mean... Our weapons're nice. A bit loud, but they're nice. They shoot well, and they shoot though. But y've got magic. And that's just as scary t'us, if not scarier." He continued.

Adrien looked weary.

"N'why'd y'save me? From th'wildings? Y'didn't know who I was; not at first."

"It was the first thing that came to mind. Regardless of who you were. The Wildlings are horrible creatures. I wouldn't wish a death by their hand on my greatest enemy." She looked away.

"I couldn't...wouldn't stand there and watch them hurt you."

"Well," He started. "Thanks for that. Hey," the boy nudged Ajani on the arm. "Sleep in Ellie's manor from now on, alright? It... isn't safe t'sleep out here. Burglars n'all that. No one's gonna get t'ye in th'manor. Promise."

"It's just strange having walls. And the looking glass..." she shuddered. She pulled her knees in tighter to her chest, gazing forward through half-lidded eyes. "But I'll try, Adrien."

"Think of ah... Th'looking glass as seeing your reflection in th'water, hm? Could always cover it, if y'like. Having walls around us is comforting t'us, though. Keeps th'nature out, which, ah, I suppose, is a bit different than how you folks operate."

He rubbed the back of his neck, and then offered a hand to Ajani.

"Promise y'will."

Hesitantly, she glanced his way, before looking down at the offered hand. His right hand, the symbol that glittered against his palm waited for her agreement.

Lifting her chin, she took up her right hand and firmly clasped his, too familiar with the warmth the rune brought to be surprised.

"I promise."

Elleanore, admittedly, had spent most of the morning looking for Aja. The idea of losing the poor tribal girl in the midst of her townspeople was not something she liked to think about, especially when everyone was so hot-headed over the issue. In light of Gerald's recent murder...whoever may be the cause of that, it had stirred everyone up, putting all on edge. The town was not a peaceful place like it had once been. Something was poisoning it from the inside, turning it into a destructive, angry place to be.

But Aja had done a good job of hiding herself amongst the people. Ellie didn't see her once. So, she decided to make her way off to the tailor's shop, with the intent of getting a few bolts of cloth so she could sew something together for her father for the Winter Solstice.

Not too long after, she came out of the store carrying a couple of things in her arms. She was going to head back home, to sort through her purchases and hopefully wait for Aja to return. On the way, she was meandering her way down the road, her eyesight partially obscured as she shifted her grip on the packages.

She thumped rather solidly into a man's chest.

"Hey now," he said, taking her by the shoulders before snatching a few things off the top of her pile. Ellie glanced up into a dusky pair of blue eyes, his face wreathed in rose gold curls. She blushed at her mishap, and averted her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, grimacing slightly. "I didn't mean...sorry about that."

"Not at all!" he said, rather cheerfully. "Here, mind if I help you walk your things home?"

She thought about refusing, but the idea of running into someone else mortified her, so she was forced to agree.

Adrien had strolled down the street, leisurely as ever. He'd woken up rather early, a contrast to his usual schedule. He was eager to get things done, however, and eager to see what was of Blakestown after his absence. An absence that everyone seemed to perpetuate felt like forever.

He was on his way to the print shop, that day. It was early, and the newspapers hadn't been picked up. To busy himself, he'd bring one for his father, himself, Xander, and Xander's family. It was an occurrence that happened every week, for possibly years.

His eyes were turned upward, and as always, they met the features of the people around him. If they'd met his own, he'd smile, and nod.

The shopping district was a rather small center, with a fountain in the middle that shut off by nighttime. Then, however, it whirred with life, spouting a clear and elegant stream from a cherub's mouth, only to meet the bottom. That was not of concern, then, however. The very same print shop Adrien had visited was across from the fabric shop Elleanore had.

The glint of red-golden curls caught his eye, from the day beforehand. The same figure, to whom it belonged to eluded him. Perhaps, perhaps it was a family friend. But the same man had been helping Ellie with her fabric.

Something wound in Adrien's chest, inexplicably so. He quickly stepped to the fountain, to observe the events that transpired between his fiancée and the red-golden haired man.

And then, almost like in a dream, the man looked back over his shoulder, meeting Adrien's eyes firmly, and without hesitation. He smiled then, a dark look to his eyes as he gave him a brief salute, before looking back to Elleanore and gently guiding her forward by the elbow.

--

Adrien slammed the door behind him, and dropped the papers that belonged to his household at the door.

"I don't know how to deal with an unruly child. Spare the rod, spoil the child. They say, they say. What do I do with you, Adrien Rune? Tell me. My fatherly passion for you has been dismissed by petty quips, after days upon days of wretching abscence. I thought you were dead, and you could not show me the least bit of compassion or empathy when I'd set my eyes on you again, a dead child walking. Have I done something to deserve this treatment? Have I wronged you in some way, other than providing a roof over your head? Other than providing you with food, and a place to sleep? What have I done, Adrien?!" Radimus violently quipped.

He had folded up his book, then. It had taken a day before these words could collide and interact in his head. His actions were violent, even though he'd harmed none. They were quick and jagged. His hands slammed into the arms of the chair he'd been sitting in, before pulling himself up.

Adrien stopped in his tracks. He was on his way to his room, an already worried expression on his face. His eyes fell to the floor, and no doubt did they seethe in the anger and resentment of Radimus' lies.

"Stop acting like you care that I was gone." The boy said.

"I have a responsibility!" Radimus hissed. "Have I not been appeasing it th'last... What, twenty years? And you're still in my house. I still support you, even as an adult. But you, you're still nothing but a boy." A snarl came to the man's face.

"And how much'ave you lied? In the last twenty years, Radimus. How much'ave you bloody well lied? D'ye expect me that y'only lied when y'took th'stage, with Ormond, and dictated what y'knew was wrong? What you knew would not only cause war, but destroy peace between us and th'tribals? 'Ave y'lied about me? 'Ave y'lied to me? Gods, n'y'can't even fathom what being a father is like, can y'? It's just all business with y', isn't it? Believe it or not, putting a roof over my god damned head doesn't make you a father!"

Adrien's speech had come like a poisoned knife to Radimus. For the first time in a long time, he had felt attacked, rather than being the attacker. He reeled back, and his features showed a certain disgust that rattled throughout his entire body.

"How did you know about that, Adrien?" He asked, his breaths becoming short. Radimus approached the boy then, though he'd kept his distance. "Do not get yourself involved in the business of people higher than you. That isn't a suggestion, child, it's a warning."

An uncomfortable lapse of silence came between the two. The man's hands gradually balled into fists, and a wave of understanding washed over him. Adrien kept his silence, and his fists were balled. His eyes concentrated on the woven, red rug beneath him. When Radimus jabbed a finger into his chest, he flinched.

"You've been communicating with the savages, haven't you?"

"No." Adrien said. "They aren't savages. They're people, Radimus -"

"I am your father."

"Father. They're people. Humans. Just like us."

"They're humans who've traded their human qualities to the devil. They communicate with only lies and treachery, and their witchcraft comes from palpable evil. Do you think that is human, Adrien?" Radimus asked. His finger was still implanted into the center of Adrien's chest.

"Yet you've lied th'same way."

"I lied to protect our people! There is no peace from communicating with savages, and if I find that you've been fraternizing with them, Adrien..." Radimus stopped. "Do not get yourself involved with the business of adults. You will sorely regret it, child. You are not only endangering us, but Blakestown in it's entirety. It's unfathomable how you could do so with such ease, and play into their lies. How am I to trust that you won't do the same next time you go into the woods to hunt? Is that where you were? At one of their ... hovels?"

"No." Adrien replied. His eyes, which formerly rested on the ground, were fixated on Radimus' shoes.

"You're lying. Never were you a good liar. You will show me where it is."

"I will not." Adrien said, his eyes suddenly coming up to meet Radimus'.

"You keep behaving this way, child, and you're going to lose everything of a blessing that's come to you. You will lose this house. You will lose my trust. You will lose the opportunity to write those shitty letters to your mother. You will lose your pretty little wife, perhaps, to a marmy streetchild!" He retorted, a slight smirk coming to his face. It was as if Adrien's discontent were a comfort to him, then. "And if you do not give up these ways, I will see to it myself that it happens. Am I making myself clear enough to you, son?"

Son.

The word was laced with enough hatred to turn Adrien's cheek.

"You are forbidden from going beyond Blakestowns' walls. I will see to it that every guard in the city knows. Consider it a blessing, because if I were to reveal that you were fraternizing with the tribals, then much worse would come of you, and not by my own hand."

"And how am I to hunt? T'bring food t'our tables, father?" Adrien rebuttaled, an incredulous expression upon his face.

"I will see to it that there is food upon our tables like I saw to it there was a roof above your head for twenty years, and a bed for you to sleep. It is a disappointing, wretched shame that I have to do so, but you've forced my hand like no other man. Consider it help from me, you disgraceful swine."

"Help? You're helping me? From forbidding me beyond th'walls? I'm an adult, Radimus."

"You are a threat to Blakestown's safety. If I find you betraying my trust that you will stay within city limits, I will have you thrown in our jails. My influence over this town is far greater than you know, and the slop there is far less forgiving than what I will supply for you, and the beds stone. Fit for a criminal."

"You'll not."

The palm of Radimus' hand met cleanly along the side of Adrien's face. Barely controlled anger emanated from the man's body. When the boy reeled, and held his cheek, Radimus had only gotten close. His then-red palm laced around Adrien's collar, and jerked the boy forward.

"You act as if you're deaf. If you don't follow my orders, you will find yourself lame."

He released Adrien's shirt. Adrien staggered backward, a hand still rubbing over the jaw which had been sorely reddened. For a moment, he didn't know what to think. Quickly, his palm placed against Radimus' chest and pushed, which had sent the man a few steps backwards.

Then, the boy climbed the stairs, and retired to his room.

The morning dawned, oddly frigid. Ajani had awoken out of an uneasy rest, her eyes staring at the ceiling as she sat up from the mattress and moved to rub at her eyes.

She froze, suddenly finding herself staring at Cavis, who was standing in the doorway watching her intently. She was thankful she'd fallen asleep in her clothes. Both of them regarded each other, the tension in the room mounting until Cavis finally opened his mouth to speak.

"You're from the tribes."

Aja's face paled significantly. Dizzy and suddenly frightened, she gently eased the blanket off of herself, putting her feet on the floor as she continued to stare. "How did..."

"The news is all over town." he told her, making no move to get closer. His eyes were gentle, but concerned and intent. "About how a girl's sneaked in. You need to get out of here, young lady. I don't know that you're safe anymore."

Aja struggled to think. She had no weapons, nothing at all, just a knowledge of the inside of the town. They'd never let her out, not if people were talking about her. They'd be immediately suspicious. Cavis stepped closer, and she flinchingly stepped back. The man froze.

"They're saying Adrien brought you here."

It hit her like a blow to the chest, as realization began to dawn. "He's in danger... "

"Not yet. But if you go running to him, he most certainly will be, but not nearly as much trouble as you will be." Cavis paused, glancing towards the window before looking back to her. Aja continued to watch him, hesitant.

"You're not going to turn me in?"

The man let that hang in the air for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

"I saw what you did for my wife's grave, young lady. It was incredibly meaningful to the both of us." He held out a hand to her. "Let me get you something else you can wear so you won't be as recognizable, and then we'll work on getting you out of here and back home in one piece, okay?"

She nodded, letting him lead her back to his own room, where he handed off a pair of slacks, a dress shirt, a hat and a cloak.

--

She had to fight to keep herself from running like mad to Adrien's home. It was even worse when she got there, because she didn't know if Radimus was inside. If that was the case, she was dead for sure. But as she came upon the home, she did some quiet investigation, listening around for any signs of him being there.

When the coast was clear, Aja ran in the front door, closing and locking it behind her.

"Adrien!" she called, her voice laced with panic.

Radimus hadn't been inside. Adrien had. He'd been vacantly rubbing his forefinger over the bandaging of his nose, and pacing back and forth. He'd heard the news as well, and the vacant, accusing stares from those he passed on the streets had forewarned him. They whispered and gossiped, and he had been the blunt of it all.

The entire town.

His thoughts traversed his mind and mingled. The tense air that lingered among the colonists, his friends, and himself, had risen to it's boiling point, and absolutely no good could come of that. The train of miserable thought had been interrupted by Ajani.

Adrien jumped at her presence, his eyes stricken with fear. He shook his head. "No, you can't be here." He said. "Radimus may be home any moment, and if he does, y'just hide like y'ran out my window, aye? What's coming over y'?" He asked.

"They're looking for me." She was breathless with fear. "I can't leave. They have guards posted everywhere and I feel like everyone's on the lookout, and when I heard that they knew you brought me here, I was concerned. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

In Cavis' oversized clothing, she looked incredibly small.

"Now I don't know what to do."

He seemed to reciprocate the same sense of panic as she did, when the news was relayed to him. He shook his head, and stared at the floor. He'd bitten down on his thumb so hard it nearly drew blood. For a few moments, he stared, in vacant consideration of what should be done.

"There are places y'can hide t'wait it out." He said, suddenly looking up to her. "It won't take more than a night, then... Agh..."

He held his head. He couldn't leave town with her. The guards wouldn't allow it.

"You'll need someone t'help you out on horseback, or you'll need t'get over th'wall."

"The way I can get over the wall takes too long, and it'll attract to much at--" Her eyes widened as she suddenly turned to the doorway. In a sudden burst, she raced for the stairs, disappearing around the turn just as the doorway opened.

"Just who I'd been looking for." Came the voice of the man who'd come through the doorway. "You come here, you marmy little -"

Radimus paced to Adrien, and violently snatched him by the collar. His dry hands yanked the boy forward, to look into Radimus' eyes. "You brought a tribal into our city? It's the very last straw, Adrien Rune. I'm certainly done dealing with your complete and utter bullshit regarding those tribal savages. You're fortunate that I haven't broken your legs yet, and yet, you defy everything, everything that I say. What has that gotten you?"

Aja watched from upstairs, her eyes wide, hand clapped over her mouth as she stared. Radimus scared her. The way he was treating Adrien was awful. She was as tense as a drawn bowstring, clearly unsure of how things were going to turn out.

Adrien's hands grabbed onto the cuffs of Radimus' sleeves, though he hadn't gone any further than that. "It was someone else." He lied.

Radimus shook him again, before gritting his teeth and replying venemously. "And you accuse me of lying?! You didn't heed my warnings, and so I'll do something with you. You'll be outcasted, if the fall down the cellar doesn't crack your dense skull open."

Suddenly, Radimus' hands jerked forward, and he piled his knee into the boy's gut. He moved away from Adrien, to open the cellar door. Adrien had no strength to move past that, and soon, he'd been taken by the collar and shoved into the dank, stony wine cellar. The door slammed, and from beyond it, it locked with chain. He'd caught on to the railing, however, and had soon regained enough of his consciousness to lash back and slam at the door.

"Radimus! Let me out of here, you bastard!" He screamed, clutching his stomach.

"I'm going to give a speech to calm the townspeople down." Radimus' voice came, from beyond the door. It sounded unnaturally business-like, though his face contorted with disgust and anger. "Tell them what happened, in full detail. I imagine that your escapades will cease past then."

It took a moment for Radimus to withdraw from the door, but he had, soon enough. His footsteps echoed against the wooden flooring as he'd exited, and the door slammed behind him.

She waited for a few minutes, until she was absolutely certain that Radimus had left the vicinity, then she all but flew down the stairs, racing for the door and bursting out of it before running around to the back of the house. The cellar door was chained firmly, and she gripped at it in an attempt to break it loose.

"Adrien!" she said loudly, trying not to draw too much attention. She slammed her fist on the door. "Adrien are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. Caught m'self." Adrien weakly said. His breaths were audible through the wooden door, and they certainly were labored. "Y'need t'leave. Er... Hide. I was going t'hide y'down here, but y'need t'find somewhere else." He breathed.

"Wait it out, 'til no one's looking for y', then come find me again."

"I'm not leaving you in here." she replied quickly. "Not with what's going on. Help me break the door." She began to tug again, gritting her teeth as she braced her foot.

"Come on!"

"No, Ajani. You need to leave. Hide! I'll get th'door open, alright? Staying in my house is not a good idea!"

He'd stopped his banging by then, in fear of drawing attention to the house. Attention was what Ajani didn't need, nor he. He continued.

"The neighbour always leaves their cellar unlocked. Y'can access it behind their house; it's two doors that y'just pull open. Go in, bar th'door, n'hide!"

She was about to respond, her lips parting with the start of a sentence, but then someone roughly shoved her forward, so that she landed hard on the cellar doors, emitting a short cry of pain. The man who stood over her now was wearing that dark smile, his red-gold curls hanging around his brow.

"You're the little bitch trying to ruin everything for us." he said with a small laugh. Aja scrambled, trying to get to her feet, but the man lunged, seizing her by the calves and dragging her closer, before he backhanded her so hard that it made her head spin.

"Thought about giving you to the colonists," he said, grasping her neck and choking off her soft moan of pain. Blood had begun to seep from her nose.

"But I think you and I are going to have a little fun before I drag your body back to them to tear apart."

Adrien stepped back, his foot missing the stair below him. When he'd caught himself, he pressed his ear to the door to hear who'd come behind her. Upon his heinous, familiar words, Adrien beat violently against the door.

"You creepy bastard! Get off of her! I'll break down this door and kill you clean!" He screamed, so loud that his voice had cracked. He stepped down, and slammed into the door with a shoulder. A twinge of pain shot through his body, but at the very least, the door had emitted a dangerous creak.

There was nothing here, no one that could help. The man still had her by the throat, furious tears burning at the corners of her eyes as she heard Adrien screaming. She kicked out at the other man, catching him in the stomach before turning and giving the door another tug.

"No, please," she murmured under her breath as the door held fast. When the man grabbed her from behind again, he pulled her roughly from the cellar door, barely giving her a chance to cry out Adrien's name before he clapped a hand over her mouth and roughly dragged her towards the stables.

"Ajani!" Adrien cried. Furious tears rimmed his eyes. He stepped down again, before slamming himself into the door. It happened once, twice, then thrice before the wood paneling of the door bore veiny cracks. It was not without consequence. Adrien's shoulder had given a slick crunch when it'd hit the third time, and moved out of socket. He cried out in pain, before regaining a semblance of conscientiousness of the situation.

With a few more slams of his hand, the door had split in two, and haphazardly broken off it's hinges. The boy thrusted himself out and tumbled to the floor, clutching his shoulder and breathing shallow breaths. It took a moment to regain himself, but he'd crawled to his feet again, and made for Ajani's voice.

He had thrown her to the ground, pulling a cattle whip from a peg on the wall and bringing it down hard against her back. She went rigid, groaning in pain as she dug her nails into the dirt. A second time, it came down on her side. She hissed in a breath, struggling to get to her feet, but then the whip snapped out, the man's smile just as sharp as it wrapped around her neck. He jerked her closer, synching it tight and holding her there, ignoring the pain as she dug her nails into his hand.

Now, they had fallen silent in the moment Adrien had burst out of the cellar, making it difficult for him to immediately locate them. Even still, she struggled as best she could, feeling her consciousness slipping from her, her grip becoming less firm. The man was smiling the whole time, touching the scars on her face tenderly.

"That's right. Die."

Adrien had come out of the house, only for his feet to take him in the direction that Ajani's voice had come from. He ran to the only place he'd known to; the stables. He rounded the corner, only to see the cloaked form of the assassin over Ajani's. He treaded carefully, then, and grabbed the skinning knife that laid against the wooden support of the stable.

Then he treaded quickly, to the back of the cloaked man, and grabbed him by the collar. In fear of pulling Ajani with him, he laid the knife against the man's throat, though his hand sorely shook. "Let her go." He demanded, voice quivering as he'd done so. "I'll cut your throat. Let her go!" He yelled.

There was a dark, resonating chuckle.

"Alright." the man replied. His hands released the girl, and the whip that was wrapped around her throat. She collapsed in a heap, lying deathly still. She wasn't breathing.

Quick as the whip he was wielding, the man drove his elbow into Adrien's abdomen, spinning towards his arm and knocking the knife right out of his hand.

He put himself between the two, and he was smiling.

"You made a mistake bringing her here." he said darkly.

Adrien stumbled backward, and landed on his side. For a moment, he clutched his abdomen and cringed in pain, before looking past the cloaked man to see Ajani's still body. He'd attempted to cry her name, but breath escaped him.

His heart thudded against his chest, and he scrambled at his feet to nearly toss himself at the man, intent on getting him to move. His dark words mattered not, as the blood that thudded against Adrien's skin bore a loud enough tune to drown him out.

The man was ready to meet him half-way, but he suddenly staggered, eyes glazing as he stumbled forward and collapsed. A horse-shoe clattered to the ground beside him.

Beyond them, Xander stood, eyes wide and his face pale.

"Fuck," he hissed, moving forward and skidding to his knees at Aja's side. He unwound the coil from her neck, rolling her onto her back, only to find that she still wasn't breathing.

"Dree," he said, his voice laced with worry.

Adrien had met the collapsing man, and violently shoved him to the ground. He collapsed to his knees again, still clutching his shoulder, and looked to Ajani. His face was stricken by grief and terror. After a few seconds of silence, he brushed the hair from her face, and his lips met hers in resuscitation.

He'd given her a breath. Then another. Another still, before he'd withdrawn, and looked for any sign of motion in the girl's face.

A moment passed, seconds that felt like hours, and then her hands clenched, eyes flying wide as she suddenly gasped for breath. She made a sound, a gasp cut off by a choked sob, immediately lashing out at the closest thing to her, which, coincidentally, was Adrien.

"N-no.." she murmured, obviously disoriented.

Adrien caught her by a wrist, though gently, and attempted to keep it from hitting him. Her arms were weak, however, and his grasp served no purpose other than reassurance. "Ajani." He breathed, relief washing over his face. "Ajani, it's Adrien. You're safe, hear? Breathe."

For the first time in a few days, Adrien locked eyes with Xander. They were apologetic, but his nod had surely thanked the other boy.

"Need y'to take'er out'a town, Xander."

A tear slipped, followed quickly by a second as she lay there, all but gasping for breath, her free hand coming up to gently lay against the raw skin of her neck.

"Where is he?" she asked, mistakenly slipping into her own, native tongue. Xander's brow furrowed in confusion.

Adrien unsurely looked to Xander, before he looked to Ajani and bore her native tongue as well.

"Gone. He's gone. You're safe. My friend is going t'take you out of town." He said. Then, he looked to the horses, who'd kept quiet in their stables. "Xander. Please. If I'd a last favor t'ask of you, it'd be this." He said, in his own native tongue.

Xander stared between the two of them, finally coming to when Adrien directed his question towards him.

"Don't even need t'ask, mate." he said. Aja was too weak to walk. He was going to have to put her on the horse himself.

"Wait, Adrien," she grasped his hand, her grip firm, but not nearly what it could have been. "You, what about..." She met his eyes, more tears slipping through what composure she had left.

When will I see you again?

"I'll be fine, Aja. We'll see eachother again when we're s'posed to. Y'need t'heal." Adrien said.

He gritted his teeth. Once his heart began to slow down, the seering pain that'd shot through his body earlier came back in tides. He stood up to brace himself against the wood support, and released Aja's grasp to clutch his hand to his shoulder. He nodded to Xander.

"If she can't tell y'where t'go, follow th'big white cat."

Xander nodded, standing a moment and making his way over to Adrien. With a sigh, he threw his arms around his friend, pausing a moment before quickly popping his shoulder back into place.

"Thank me later," he muttered, pulling away quick, and bending to scoop Aja into his arms.

A crack had resounded throughout the stables, and Adrien doubled forward, cursing under his breath. The shoulder that he clutched had been righted by Xander, though, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at his friend's dismissiveness toward him.

"Get back t'town safe." Adrien said, and his eyes flitted to the cloaked body on the floor. "But shove off now, aye?"

Xander nodded, giving him a small smile before sweeping Aja up into his arms and carrying her towards one of the horses. One had already been saddled, or had remained that way due to his own lack of viligence, and that was the one they mounted together. He easily set her up front, before climbing on behind her, and he gave Adrien one last look before easing the horse out of the stables and kicking it into a canter.

Aja barely had time to say goodbye before they were gone, and her voice was so raw that she didn't think Adrien would hear her anyway.

Adrien nodded toward Aja and Xander, and raised a hand in goodbye.

After a long lapse of time and rest, he began to regain his senses. His arm ached, but it felt better. Better than it had before. In the seering pain beforehand, it seemed that the boy had forgotten about the cloaked figure. The one that dangerously stirred near him, perhaps ready to wake again. The one whose face laid in the dirt.

His face.

His face.

The thought struck Adrien like a dagger, and with a surprising quickness, he staggered to the cloaked man's body. He hovered above it, then violently grasped his arm and turned the body over. Adrien grabbed a hold of the dark cowl that shaded his face, then pulled it back.

Golden red ringlets glinted against the moonlight.

The morning had come slowly, and of the bodies that rested in Radimus' household, Adrien was the first one to stir and rise. The healthiest of the bunch, whether it be to his amount of sleep, or his curious lack of the Velvet Fever that had been thoroughly subsiding the last days. He awoke in the living room, having eventually drifted to slumber in the only remaining place of rest in the house; an upright recliner. He awoke with a startle, though the dreams that posessed him the night before were hazy, at best, to the boy.

Quickly, he drew himself up and made for the room which Ajani slept in. Light pierced the curtains, and they certainly were a harsh mistress to his eyes. But, it was validation enough that morning had come, and no doubt would the tribal woman be cross with him if he hadn't asked her to wake as well, with how studious she'd been in treating the colonists.

So he'd cautiously approached the girl and rustled her by the arm. "Aja - Ajani, wake up. S'morning." He said.

It took more than usual to get the girl to rouse. Her exhaustion had been so thorough that she hadn't moved from the original position she had lay down in. But, steadily, her eyes opened, a distinct, clear blue in the light of the morning. She sighed, shifting to roll to her back as she lifted her hands to run them over her face. Her fingertips stopped just underneath her eyes, and she turned to gaze at Adrien.

"So soon." she said, shaking her head before struggling to sit upright. "Mn. Everyone's alright? People should be waking now. Walking..."

From the moment she slept to the moment she woke, she had thought of nothing but the people she could be helping.

"People are waking, alright. Stirring right up out of their beds and taking to the streets, with what you guys have been doing for us." Adrien stopped for a moment, then smiled. "I heard a rumor about Illiam - er... Governor Ormond, the other day. He was talking about having an official celebration once everyone is well and healthy. Food in the plaza. And honoring the Vanduo at it, too. It'd be like a holiday. Don't know what they'd name it."

"But, people are getting better, Aja. It's been more good than it's been bad, with you being here, you know. I wouldn't blame you if you told me to get out, and went right back to sleeping. No one else would, either."

Her attention had been won the moment he mentioned Illiam's name.

"Governor Ormond is like your chieftain, yes?" she asked, her eyes boring into his.

"Yeah. He's pretty high up there. I guess we get used to calling him Illiam, 'cause every time someone meets him, he insists it. People say he doesn't really have the backbone to be a good leader - not since the treaty - but he takes care of Blakestown like we're Anabelle and Josie Ormond." He said, nodding.

She was up rather abruptly, one hand lifting to smooth through her hair. "I need to see him. As soon as possible. Now, even!"

She didn't say why, simply that she needed to go. She turned abruptly to Adrien. "Can we? Do we have time?"

"Everyone has time since Velvet hit. He's probably up in his house. Got two little girls to take care of, and one of them had the fever." Adrien said, his dullness probably due to the morning.

"I can take you there, I guess. I usually try look nice before I hit the streets, but I guess no one is looking that great. Why's it so important?"

She was pacing restlessly, from one side of the room to the other. "I need to apologize to him. As soon as I can."

She came up to stand in front of him. "I can go myself. It isn't a bother, really. I just..." She looked almost nervous.

"I just need to."

"Alright, alright." Adrien said, standing up with the woman. His fingers raised to his eyes, which vehemently rubbed at the morning crust that had accumulated there. "He's not going to disappear, you know. It's only morning."

He moved to the door, to open it for Ajani. Meanwhile, Radimus stirred in the living room, and groaned incoherencies. "We're off." Adrien said to the man, who soon rolled over to face the back of the couch and rest again.

When he'd gotten to the door, he'd pulled Radimus' coat off it's hanger, and tossed it to the girl. He took his own and wrapped it around his shoulders. Then, he held the door open.

"After you."

There was someone she was trying to avoid, but it was hard to go explaining that to Adrien, especially now. She'd awoken with a certain clarity of mind, and she didn't want to let go of that any time soon. "Quickly," she said, slinging the coat around her shoulders and jogging off into the snow.

All around, people were finally starting to come out of their homes. They smiled and laughed, waving to one another and marveling over how quickly the illness had subsided with the help of the tribals. There was an air of peace, one that was nearly palpable. The air felt lighter, here. But Ajani couldn't stop now to enjoy it with them. Not yet.

She didn't stop until they came to the foot of Illiam's home, and it was with a certain eagerness that she came to the front door and knocked.

Shouts of laughter and reassurances had come from beyond the door of the regal-esque home. The pitter-patter of tiny feet and the stomps of larger ones had grown closer to the door, until the mahogany slab was opened, if only to reveal a raven-haired young lady, whose eyes swept over Ajani with a certain recognition.

"Oh!" She started. "I remember you! None of us are sick anymore, though." She said, almost haughtily. Her voice had the certain charismatic strength of a child proud of their accomplishments.

"That's not the same girl as earlier," came another woman's voice. A slender hand had taken the door and opened it further, to reveal a woman of darker skin, and even darker hair. She smiled at Ajani, and then to the boy who'd taken place behind her. Her other hand held the underside of her stomach. She gave a warm smile to them both. "Illiam, dear? You have visitors."

"I do, I always do." Came the voice of Illiam, who, in his hand, held another young girl. Younger than the one who'd opened the door. "Ana, oh, move, will you?" He asked, and the very same girl squeezed between the two and disappeared into a room beyond. When Illiam's eyes had come up to meet Ajani's, however, a certain paleness had stricken his face. He handed off the child to his wife, and then closed the door to which only he and they could converse.

But he didn't speak a word. Instead, his lower lip quivered into his top, and he fought with what to say.

Her eyes swept over the family, wonder in her gaze as she took in the sight of the beautiful children. Her heart was hammering in her chest, but she still managed to smile, looking between all of them with a certain eagerness to her expression.

Then, when Illiam appeared, she felt like she would stop breathing.

"Illiam." she began, an incredible wash of emotions sweeping over her. "I wondered if I could speak with you privately?" She didn't look back to Adrien. She couldn't afford to, then.

"I suppose," Illiam started, his voice grave. "I should not subject my family to this."

He hesitated to step into the bitter cold. He looked behind him, to where the two couldn't see, and grasped the hand of his wife, before closing the door momentarily.

Adrien looked to Ajani, his brow furrowed. "You don't have to apologize, you know. Not to him. He wasn't the one who's had'is father shot." The boy said, ignorant as to why Ajani had seemed so distraught. Before he could continue, the door had been opened again, and Illiam stepped out to greet the both of them in Winter clothes. His eyes fell on Adrien, who had gone to take a step back.

"Should I leave y'two be?" Adrien asked. "Y'wouldn't mind at all if I'd gone in and played with Josie again, would you, Illiam?"

Ajani hesitated, looking towards Adrien before she gave a quiet nod. "We won't be too long," she murmured, shrugging out of Radimus' coat and handing it back to Adrien. She looked to Illiam, her expression meek, before quietly making her way down the stairs.

Adrien nodded, and ducked inside Illiam's house. He'd gone to Josie, who was held by Illiam's wife. The small child grasped his finger, and he laughed, before the door had been shut, and Ajani and the Governor had been left together.

"I'm sorry to pull you away from your family." she said to him when they had come a distance away from the house. There were people around, and some of them glanced their way as they passed. "I just..." Her brow furrowed as she heaved a very great sigh.

"Many things happened that day." she murmured, not looking at him. "There were things said and done that were unforgiveable. On both sides." She momentarily looked to his face.

"But, as the leader of my people, and their representative...I wanted to come to you especially, because, plainly...I wish to apologize."

Illiam regarded the girl's words with a certain timid quietness, and his eyes had kept to the ground, until Ajani had uttered the last syllable of her apology. Then, he'd looked up to her, his eyes flashing with mild surprise. "Oh..." He murmured, and suddenly took Ajani by the shoulders.

His next words came like a flurry of pent-up practiced speeches and apologetic pleas. "I'd wished to apologize too, you know. But, you were gone. And through all of it, I'd wanted to let you know - that I didn't condone your father being killed. I had no play in it. On behalf of me -" He stammered. "I mean - our... Blakestown. I'm apologizing as well. Never did I hold any ill will toward your people, and it hadn't only been the death of your father, that day. I can't imagine what it was like. I thought he and peace had died, but..."

Suddenly, he came to a realization. That, perhaps, he had been getting a bit too excited. The man's cheeks still bore a deathly paleness. He withdrew, releasing Ajani. "You've been good at restoring that. I... haven't been, so much."

There were tears in her eyes, even as she listened to his heart-felt apology. There was some anger, certainly, but she had to school herself to direct it elsewhere. This man had not been responsible. She remembered the look on his face when the bullet had pierced her father's heart.

"I should never have threatened you the way I did." she breathed. "It was dishonoring to my father's memory, and a disgrace to what my people had set out to accomplish. I can only hope that what has happened in these last few days can at least repair some of the damage our ignorance has caused."

She said 'our' with some emphasis.

"I wish to maintain this peace, as best we can. It's so very important, Illiam. We're going to need each other." She glanced away, trying to keep her thoughts in order. "I fear a destruction is coming. If we do not stand together, then we're all going to suffer for it."

Back at Illiam's home, the front door nearly bent with the slamming of a fist against its surface.

"Illiam!" A certain red-headed man said, loudly. "I insist you open up!"

Finally, a smile had crossed the man's face, though it was meek. "I don't know what sort of destruction you're talking about, but even without, I can't help but agree. There is no way for us to reside here for so long without coming to terms on something, is there?"

With the faint call of his name, Illiam glanced to where his home rested. A chill had gone up his spine, though he watched from a distance what was to transpire. The mahogany door had opened up, with the small face of Anabelle Ormond peeking beyond. In her hand was Adrien's, who had to bend over to accomodate the child's grasp.

"My daddy isn't home right now, he's -"

The girl was cut off by Adrien, whose eyes had met their copper-curled visitor's. "Out. He's out. Anabelle, I think Josie's crying." He said, rather plainly, and shooed the girl off. He stepped outside, nearly pushing the larger fellow away from the door. Though his voice seemed firm, when it softened and faded, it quivered with slight fear. "He's not here. Neither's she." He added, though 'she' had been rather ambiguous.

His eyes nearly flitted in their direction, before landing up on the visitor's again.

The man grit his teeth in frustration, glancing to the side, before pausing to look...really look.

"Not a problem." he all but growled, turning abruptly and jogging down the stairs, across the lawn, and down the road towards Illiam and Ajani.

Aja was holding her breath, and her shoulders went stiff when she saw that the one man she feared most in this town came, practically running for them.

Her face had gone unusually pale, but she maintained her composure even as the Assassin approached. He glowered at her, a wicked look that was filled with obvious animosity. "I would have thought you'd be a bit more cautious, Illiam." he insisted.

"Lest you catch that awful fever."

Illiam had glanced to the man, almost passively, but it was certainly a ruse. Inside, the man had shaken him to the very core as well. "Cain," He started. "I was just going to direct this young lady to the nurse's hovel. She seemed lost, and, well, I consider myself a good Samaritan."

Adrien followed close behind Cain, and joined the group as Illiam finished speaking. "I... need a pail for Radimus, so I don't think it'd be wrong I come with you all."

"If you've a matter for me, well, can you bring it up later? I'm a busy man." Illiam continued.

"She knows damned well where the hovel is." Cain suddenly snarled, taking a threatening step closer to Ajani. She stood frozen, simply boring her eyes into those of the man who had, on more than one occasion, tried to take her life.

"She's been sneaking into the village," Cain accused, pointing a hand visciously at her. She flinched. "Scouting us out, and here you go, letting the whole lot of them into the town without so much as a hesitation. It's foolish. You are foolish."

He looked disgusted, stepping back and nearly shoving Adrien to get him out of his way. "Well, I won't be fooled. There are those of us who will be happy to see these people gone."

He shook his head, looking between the group of them before turning and stalking back towards the village. Aja didn't say a word for a long while.

Then, "Should we get the pail, Adrien?" she asked, her voice soft.

Adrien balled a fist.

"Radimus doesn't need a pail. I swear, if he knows that man -"

"Isn't something you should be involved, or concerned with, Adrien. Politics between the tribes and colonies is a dangerous thing, and you're lucky to have had Radimus' status protecting you." Illiam said, his voice full of scorn. Though, it seemed stricken, and almost fearful at points. "Consider yourself lucky."

For a while, the silence between the three of them grew, before the Governor had spoken again.

"You children should be off."

"Thank you for speaking with me." Ajani said quickly, before turning to walk off down the road. Ironically enough, it was away from the town hall... in the opposite direction that Assassin had gone in. She didn't pause to see if Adrien was following, but surely enough, the boy had worriedly stalked after her.

The day had been overcast, though the festivities below were a far contrast to the skies above. By then, most of the villagers had come to good health, and even a few had taken to aiding the tribals with those who weren't. The casualties were very few and far between, with only Cameron Roan and Joesephus Rake, the latter of which was old and already on his way anyhow.

But, in the square that day, people locked arms and sang merry tunes, whether they belonged to the Vanduo, the colonies, or otherwise. On the sidelines of the square laid tables upon tables of food and drink, to which people added to and took from as the day gradually went on.

Those who didn't keep so well to the tribals' presence were advised to stay in their homes, and so they had. Some, even with their fear, took to the square as well, and stayed on the sidelines to watch the festivities. The jolliness of the day was certainly contagious.

Among the crowd was Adrien, who had stayed to the food. While the music and dancing was enticing, it asked for a trait that the boy certainly hadn't picked up along the way. Xander was mingling in the crowd as well, and no doubt would the boy be near to perfectly healthy, then. He was accompanied by Elleanore, whose health had been fixed just the same. Radimus had chosen to stay at his house that day, though no doubt did the chattering and melodies of the townsfolk pierce the walls that he'd hidden behind.

The tribals had added their own delicacies, with cooked fowl and vegetables, roots and berries that blended to create a uniquely exquisite taste. Many of the girls sat and mingled with the colonists who had gathered to enjoy the festivities, since the majority of them were wed, with children of their own. They did not seek out partners in dance. The children were playing with one another, chasing each other through the square and tumbling into the snow. Aja, who had gone back to the camp and returned after a day's much needed rest, was standing more on the sidelines, watching the dancing with a comically concentrated look on her face.

Just then, the music ended, and a different tune picked up. The group of dancers broke off into pairs, spinning and whirling around and between one another. There was much laughter, too, as people struggled to keep up with partners who were either too fast or too slow.

"You seem very interested, Ajani." A voice said, just behind her. She turned, finding Elleanore's father standing there with a gentle smile on his face. He held out his hand.

"May I show you?"

Aja paused, her brows lifted, before a great big grin broke out on her face. She took his hand, allowing him to lead her to where the others were dancing, and then, quite suddenly, he was sweeping her away. At first, she was clinging to him, but then the movements became easier to follow, and she was dancing along, unable to help the grin that had fixed itself to her face.

Adrien's eyes couldn't help but wander to the tribal leader who'd made it all happen, and how she was merrily dancing with Elleanore's father. He grinned and covered his mouth, before a snowball had hit him on the side, and he stumbled. When he looked to his aggressor, he'd seen that it was the small, blond-headed tribal boy from before, Siska. A grin came to his face, and he'd bent over to pack snow and throw it back.

But, before he could, the boy had come running at him, and grabbed him by the palm of his hand. He slowly began to drag Adrien to the square, where people had been locking arms and going on their merry way. "I'm not a kid, you know," He said, in the Vanduo's language. "I can dance too! Just like everyone else!"

Adrien began to protest, but before he'd known, he was locking elbows with the child and dancing in circles. Interestingly enough, Siska had kept a better beat than the boy years older than him. Soon enough, though, everyone had began to split partners, and it'd be then that Adrien would notice that the younger boy had brought the pair next to Cavis and Ajani.

Siska held an expectant hand up to Cavis, and Adrien looked to the dignified tribe leader, chuckling at the events that had just transpired. Almost hesitantly, he held a hand to the girl.

Cavis pulled Ajani to a stop, one arm behind the young woman's shoulders as he gave a rather comical bow to Siska. The pair whisked away, and Aja met Adrien's eyes, her eyes bright and cheeks flushed, before clasping his hand and stepping up close. The tempo of the music did not allow the pair a moment to pause, and in the same moment they were dancing along with the rest.

She kept up, at the very least. It was nice not to be tripping over her own feet the second time around. Smiling the whole time, and clinging to him as they moved, she couldn't help but wonder at the situation. Months ago, when she'd first met Adrien, she'd been freezing, heart broken, and holding a knife against him.

Now?

"Didn't I tell you that she'd find a way?" she said to him in Vanduo's tongue. She gave his hand a squeeze.

"Look at us now. I feel ridiculous, but I'm happy. We're happy."

"We're not all convinced yet, only most of us," Adrien said, humorously. He had been struggling to keep up with the tempo, but he'd danced and kept all the same. With a small chuckle, he began again. "It looks as if neither of us have ever danced in our lives."

A considerable amount of comfortable silence between the two grew, the vacant space being filled with the melodies that the bard had conveyed.

"I hope it stays this way." he said then, his voice flatter. "It's amazing how everyone's changed."

And that was certain. Those who were protesting the tribals, calling them horrid names and fixing for their burning, had now locked arms with them. They had brought them into their city, and the best of all was that they were welcome in their city.

Weeks earlier, he had been outcasted for bringing one in. Now there were many. Months ago, he had seen the tribal woman caught in a bear trap, and he couldn't imagine the way things would've been if he hadn't helped her. If she hadn't helped him, just as well.

As the song came to a close, people slowed to a stop, and Aja hesitated for only a moment before she embraced Adrien.

"Thank you." she told him, smiling before pulling away. "For everything."

"Mind if I cut in?"

The voice startled her. Turning about, she saw Cain standing with his hand outstretched to her, a pleasant smile on his face. His eyes were on hers, never once looking to Adrien.

"Lets not make a scene, little Princess. Come dance with me."

Adrien took a sharp breath in, and paused only momentarily, for the shoulder of another townsperson had met his.

"He won't do anything." The boy suddenly said, knowing full well he couldn't interject without a few pointed glances from the people around him. Suddenly, his hand had been grasped by another's, and a pair of townsfolk fit themselves in-between the three.

Aja hesitated, but reached to put her hand in Cain's. He gripped it gently, but firmly, pulling her in and taking her by the waist before leading her off into another dance. He chuckled, leaning to whisper in her ear.

"Smile."

She tried, but it only came out as a wan upturn of the corners of her mouth. She took a deep, shaky breath, attempting to relax even though she could feel the man's breath on her cheek. It was disconcerting, like playing with a dangerous animal.

"I just wanted to give you fair warning," he murmured. She looked around pretending as if he wasn't speaking.

"There's a lot going on now. It's kind that you took your time to come out and heal our sick, but we don't have need of you anymore. Do you understand?"

She closed her eyes. "Illiam doesn't seem to think so."

"Illiam is a fool." he replied smoothly, his hand giving hers a painful squeeze. She struggled not to flinch. "As it is, we're here to help him make decisions. This is one of them. You and your people will return to the tribe in the woods and never come back."

She was staring, the smile fading. She dared a look at the man's face, and he was gazing down at her with another one of his smiles on his face.

"If you do," he said, matter of factly, "I'll kill Adrien."

She stumbled, but it hardly mattered. The song had come to an end. He released her, stepping back and offering her a bow, to which she simply nodded.

"Choice is yours, Princess." he noted before slipping his hands into his pockets and walking off, whistling merrily.

The townspeople began to disperse then, cleaning off tables and beginning to amble back to their homes. Aja tried to help as best she could, but she felt so conflicted, and behaved in such a distracted manner that it was getting harder for her to concentrate.

"Ajani!" Xander called, meandering over to her with Ellie in tow. "Grab Adrien. We're gunna go on an adventure."

He popped up on his tip-toes, waving a hand towards the lad he could apparently see. "DREE!"

Adrien hustled over to the three. After leaving Ajani's hand, he'd taken himself away from the crowd to the sidelines again, to worriedly watch the goings-on of what was happening between the townspeople. He'd only gotten a few glimpses of Ajani and Cain, and even then, they looked as if they were dancing like any other pair. He was dangerously eager to ask what had happened, but Xander and Elleanore were far too close to ask her about such a thing anyhow.

So he looked to Ajani, gravely, then to the other two, with a forced smile.

"Lets go, then. Ajani?"

She nodded, smiling for him, even if it was a strained one, at best. She took a steady breath, watching as Xander and Ellie lead the way, walking arm in arm. Studying them for a moment, she glanced to Adrien, before walking up and slipping her arm in his too.

She'd have to keep her peace for now. She didn't want to risk anything, especially not if Adrien's life hung in the balance.