Cassie Ariana Thorin's Story

Cassie sat at one of her tables and attempted to draw Stormy on a napkin. Not many people had come to the bakery today and she didn't have much to do. "Cassie?" Her brother called. She perked up, hoping that it was a delivery. "Could you please buff table 4?" He grinned then disappeared back into the kitchen. She got up and went to the table.

"Why is business so slow today?" She said to herself. She looked out the window. The bakery was a little way from the heart of the city (it's in the city limits), and a longer ways from the country. If she did have to deliver she hoped it was to the city. She knew that going by herself to the country was too dangerous, and she would be at risk of a diaph attack. She did love the country, but it's so far away.

She heard the bell on the door jingle and she went to the counter to greet the customer. "Hello, how may I help you?" She looked at the old lady. "I-I-I'll take o-o-one of them m-m-muffins right there." The lady pointed a bony finger at a lemon cream muffin in the display case. "Okie dokie!" Cassie took out a muffin and put it in a box. "That'll be 4.50." She said as the old lady took out her little wallet. "I-I-I'm sorry, but I don't h-h-have 4.50." She said, sounding very sad. Cassie couldn't help to see the old lady sad. "Ohhhh!!!!" Cassie whined. "Don't worry! This one's on the house!" She reassured the lady. "T-t-thank you, young lady! Have a g-g-g-great day."

The old lady walked out the door and left, but she stopped a little ways from the bakery. "Hmm, I wonder what the lady is doing." Cassie said as she went to the window to watch the lady, hoping she didn't get attacked by anything. Then the 'old lady' did something very strange. She transformed into a male harpy. He looked back at the bakery and saw Cassie staring at him in horror. He smiled deviously then took off into the air. "What the?!" Cassie then started to curse. "What did you do!?" Her brother called. "I gave a harpy a free muffin!" Cassie said to him. He placed his hand on his forehead disapprovingly. "Cat, you really need to be more aware of things." He said. Cassie glared at him. "How was I supposed to know that 'old lady' was a shape-shifting harpy!?" She sat down back at her table. "He was actually kinda cute." She whispered as she pet Stormy on the head.

"DONE!" Cassie was startled by her brother's loud statement. "With what?"" Cassie had to calm her cat, who was fluffed up with fear. "Cat, I got a delivery for you!" "Oooohhh!!!" Cassie squealed as she jumped up, and scared Stormageddon again. "Where shall I travel today, brother?" "To a farm in the country." Cassie's excitement faded. "I know. Do you want me to come with you?" "No! I can do this myself." Cassie took the delivery and set it on the table. "Is this everything?" She asked as she examined the various pastries. "Yep. Ohh, I want you to take this with you." He handed her a sword. "I trust you with this. Stay safe, please." Cassie took the silver sword and looked at it in awe. "This is awesome." She attacked it to her belt loop. "Don't worry." She gave him a hug. "I'm off!" She took the pastry box and exited the bakery. She looked at the address on the box. "This looks like it's pretty deep in the country. Fun fun." She got on her bicycle and rode of. No way she was ever going to walk that long of a way.

Cassie was on her way to the farm. She looked at her watch. "Wow, it's only been 10 minutes? It's felt like 30!" She continued down the road. She enjoyed the scenery of the country. The rolling hills, the plains and the many farms that speckled the land. She really did wish that she lived in the country side of Asera. The only problem with that was that you would have to fend for yourself against diaphs. She didn't like those creatures, not one bit.

The time passed very quickly and she was almost where she needed to be. She had to go down a worn down road, but after that she would find herself back on a main road then soon at her destination. Cassie had her head in the clouds thinking about various things. She almost didn't even notice the foul smell of blood as she turned onto the road. Cassie gagged and stopped her bike as she saw a few dead bodies. "Oh.My.Stars." She gasped as 4 hunters lie dead a few yards away from her.

She started again on her bike. She went through the grass to avoid any blood getting on her wheels. Soon enough she was back on a real road. Cassie couldn't help but wonder what did that. 'It couldn't have been a diaph, could it? It could have been anything.' She thought. The girl shook her and stopped thinking about it. She soon found the house she was looking for. "Here it is." She got off her bike and rolled it along her side. She set it against the house and lifted her hand to knock. Knock Knock

Skylark glared at Rye when she commented about not hurting him. Sure, it was a nice enough thing to say but she didn't have to say it in a manner that made him shiver! With a grumble he followed the elf down the short hallway of the small home.

Sky was incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of this stranger staying in his home, but he had seen it coming. Quentin had talked with several villagers and decided to open his home to those who were willing to fight the diaphs. it would also help with keeping the alpaca safe. Sebora had been making trips to the farm more frequently now. Sky had no doubt that the female diaph had a clutch of hatchlings somewhere nearby. Wonderful. As cruel as it sounded, he wished that he could find them now, while they were still small, and cut their throats. But then his thoughts wandered to how small and helpless diaph offspring were, and he cursed himself in his head for ever thinking of such a cruel thing to do. he was so lost in thought that he bumped into Rye's back when she backed away from the door to the bedroom.

Sky blinked in confusion before realizing that something serious had happened. He stepped to the side and leaned down so that he could get a better looked at the elf's face. 'Are you okay, Lady?" he asked with a look of concern showing on his face.

Then there was a knock on the door, "Gah! One thing after another! I'll be right back," he told Rye as he wen't off down the hall and into the kitchen. Sky opened the front door and looked down at Cassie, studying her with his blue eye, the other covered in yellow fabric. "Yes?" he asked calmly.

Cassie waited for the door to open patiently. She was a bit nervous standing outside. She looked around just in case something could possibly be sneaking up on her. 'Whoo, nothing.' She thought to herself them turned back to face the door.

She could barely hear footsteps approach the door. "Yes?" The guy said as the door swung open. "I have a few pastries to deliver for 'Skylark'?" 'What an interesting name.' She smiled and look up at his face. He had on eye covered with a yellow fabric of some sort, but the other one was a cool blue color. 'I wonder what happened.'

The two just stood there looking at each other. They stood there in the doorway for what seemed like hours, but it was only 1 minute before Cassie had continued the delivery order. "If this is the right place I'd like to speak with Mr. Skylark." Cassie said firmly. She had to shift the way she was holding the box because the fresh pastries' heat was seeping to her hands. Once her hands were temporarily safe from the heat she waited for an answer.

"I am Skylark, these are the pastries I ordered the other day," and with that realization a playful grin spread across his face. He opened the top and looked into the box at all of the colorful food. "Awesome, I figured this would be a great gift for those coming to stay with us for a while and, well, my friend is in a lot of pain now so I wanted to get him something yummy." He then closed the lid of the box and smiled at Cassie. "Where do I sign?"

The young man's attention drifted to the treeline as he waited for a reply. He thought he may have heard something, but decided that it was not in fact a diaph. It was Patches, the multi-colored alpaca. he had escaped! With a tilt of his head the large animal wandered over to the two of them and began nibbling on Cassi'e hair.

"Patches!" Sky frowned playfully. "You dammed fool, your going to get eaten if you don't stay with the herd! Stop flirting and go back to the barn." He waved his hands and the animal backed away slowly, then just stood their staring at him.

Cassie was just about to tell Skylark where to sign when a colorful llama, or alpaca she didn't know the difference, had come up to her to nibble on her hair. "You dammed fool, your going to get eaten if you don't stay with the herd! Stop flirting and go back to the barn." She heard the guy say. "Heheh... It's ok." Cassie said awkwardly as she swept her hair away from the llama.

"If you'll just sign here." With one hand she took out a paper saying the delivery was complete and handed it to him. The llama came back and tried to eat at her hair again. "Umm... does your llama usually eat hair?" Cassie tried to make the awkward standing a bit less. She looked at Skylar while waiting, but had to continuously brush away the animal.

"Patches! Dammit you asshole!" Skye shooed the brown, black, and white spotted animal away. He then took out a pen and began signing the delivery form. "Hes an alpaca," Sky stated without lifting his head. "There!" The young man had left a beautiful scribbled signature. "So... is this what you do for a living? Deliver pastries?" He hoped he hadn't sounded rude. He was genuinly curious about what Cassie did. "Uh... wait.. did you come all the way out here by yourself?" Sky frowned and stared at her closely.

Traveling alone was a bad idea. And even though Cassie had a sword Sky doubted that she even knew how to use it.

"No, I do not just deliver pastries. I decorate and make them, too. My brother and I own a bakery by the city." She said matter of factly. "And yes I did come here by myself." As he looked at her, Cassie felt a bit nervous. She got question a lot when she delivered pastries to the country. She got scolded by an old centaur once. 'Now missy, you should know how dangerous it is to travel alone in such times as these. You could be killed by a diaph!' The old man went on and on about how a young lass like her couldn't defend herself well enough and that she should have someone with more fighting experience come with her. The thought made her rather upset, but she knew she had to hide her feelings.

Skylark was about to lecture the young delivery girl when Rye showed up, "Great," he thought to himself as he watched the elf closely. It was strange how she seemed so... dark... towards him yet was friendly to the girl. Well, maybe she had something against men. He let it slide because everyone had something that they were afraid of or didn't wan't others to know. he wouldn't pry any answers from Rye, it would be rude and Quentin would probably reprimand him for it. The last thing he needed was a lecture. Especially a Quentin lecture. "When I was a boy," and blah blah blah...

"Devotion to her job? More like devotion to getting herself killed... you, girl, I will walk you home." He grinned a friendly grin but it vanished as soon as he noticed the smoke trail down the road. The dark smoke rose up into the sky. It was not the flame of a wildfire, it was a campfire.

"No, you can't walk yourself home. I will walk with you. I will be fine coming home alone, don't worry about me. I have had my fair share of diaph fights," he stated as he pointed to the fabric that covered his eye. Sky placed the pastry box on the kitchen table before exiting the house and heading off down the road, towards the fire.

It didn't take long for Skylark to reach the creature leaning against the fence. He stopped in his tracks and stared at him curiously, "Hello, may I help you?" Sure, the man may have been a bit strange looking, but there were certainly far more things to be afraid of in Asera.

Quentin had managed to drag himself out of bed and make his way to the trio by the front door, but as soon as he got there Sky took off. The elf rolled hs eyes and turned his attention to Rye, "Is the spare room to your liking?"

The half ogre turned his head to the strange human speaking to him, his horns gleaming in the fire light. What kind of idiot walks up to a half ogre in the dead of night? Oh well, idiots weren't any of his concern. "I don't need any help. You however, should leave quickly. The road isn't safe at night, and not just because of Diaphs. Those who lurk in darkness and take advantage of the chaos will show you less mercy than any creature." The half ogre bit into his stale bread and forced himself to swallow it. Disgusting.

(I am sooo sorry guys! I usually give a notice ahead of time if I am going to be gone. Some unexpected things popped up in my life this week and I have barely had any sleep. I have been gone since Thursday and am finally home now. I hope you are all still wanting to be in this rp. I am so sorry for my absence!)

"Well, my house is just down the road. Why don't you head on over and get yourself some real food to eat. Help yourself to the couch as well. No one should be out here in the dark. If a house is not your thing then you are more than welcome to make yourself right at home in the barn. Stay as long as you would like. I have to get this girl home and I will probably be staying in town for the night. If you decide to head over to the house just tell the old elf that Skylark sent you."

To most people, it would seem odd that such a young man so openly accepted people and welcomed them into his home. But Sky and Quentin were quite generous and had helped many travelers through the years. it was their belief that if they did good things for others then goods things would be done for them, even if not by another being. Heck, a nice rainy summer was always welcome!

(I am sooo sorry guys! I usually give a notice ahead of time if I am going to be gone. Some unexpected things popped up in my life this week and I have barely had any sleep. I have been gone since Thursday and am finally home now. I hope you are all still wanting to be in this rp. I am so sorry for my absence!)

"Well, my house is just down the road. Why don't you head on over and get yourself some real food to eat. Help yourself to the couch as well. No one should be out here in the dark. If a house is not your thing then you are more than welcome to make yourself right at home in the barn. Stay as long as you would like. I have to get this girl home and I will probably be staying in town for the night. If you decide to head over to the house just tell the old elf that Skylark sent you."

To most people, it would seem odd that such a young man so openly accepted people and welcomed them into his home. But Sky and Quentin were quite generous and had helped many travelers through the years. it was their belief that if they did good things for others then goods things would be done for them, even if not by another being. Heck, a nice rainy summer was always welcome!

The half ogre stared at the odd elf in silent shock and disbelief. Not two minutes ago had this strange man even known him, heck, he hadn't even asked for his name yet, and had already invited him into his home. It was hard to say if the man was just extremely generous, or extremely stupid. Either way, he had a place to sleep and something to eat... but that didn't sit quite well with Amos.

"I am not so greedy as to impose upon a stranger so freely. The road is dangerous at night." The massive behemoth of muscle and hair stood, picking his equally massive sword off the ground as he did. "I will accompany you and see to your safety. Once we return, I will protect your barn in exchange for lodging, if that is suitable." The half ogre smiled, a genuine and kind smile. "Do we have an accord?"

Cassie tried to wait patiently for Skylark to escort her home. 'I'm going to get in so much trouble. It'll probably be another lecture.' Cassie thought as she looked at the sky. 'I could have been half way home by now if Skylark didn't care.' Cassie leaned on her bike and looked at him. 'Why would he care for some random person?' "Well, my house is just down the road." Was he offering another random person to stay at his home? "Stay as long as you would like."

meanwhile

Matt paced around the bakery as he watched the sun go down. "Where's Cassie!? She should have been home at least by now! I hope she didn't get attacked, or kidnapped!" He sat down at the same table Cassie was earlier today. "Maybe she's staying at a hotel, or someone let them into their home for the night." He laid his head down on the cold, wooded table. "I should probably put the close sign on the door." Matt got up and flip the sign from open to close. He looked outside the door to see if Cassie was riding back, but she wasn't.

Skylark scratched his chin while he thought about what the half ogre had said. Protection in exchange for board and food? It was a great deal. Heck, Sky would be stupid to say no! Even the most stubborn of people would be a fool to not agree. "Hell yeah, sounds awesome!"

A wide grin came to his face as he looked at Cassie, "Ready to go? Can't keep your brother up too late, now can we?" With that, the white-haired human began off down the road. "So, where are the two of you originally from anyway? South? North? City? Town? Im from an old city in the East! I came here on a ship many years ago."

"We're originally from right here. We grew up on a small farm in the south east part of the country. Then when my parents decided to open up a bakery we moved to the city. It's not really inside the city, just about five minutes out." Cassie looked at Skylark. "What city would 'an old city in the East' be?" She wondered why he cared so much, but it was small talk to pass the time.

It was only five minutes that had passed, but Matt was starting to panic even more. He tried to keep all the possible scenarios that his sister might have gotten into out of his mind, but they kept flowing. "Maybe I shouldn't worry so much. Cassie is just as mature as I am, and I'm sure she safe from any monsters." He paced back and forth through the bakery.

The half ogre walked alongside the pair as they made their way down the road into town, his sword slung over his shoulder. Where he was from huh? He hadn't thought about it in a long time. "Well, my father is from a small ogre tribe in the northern mountains, he meet my mother during a raid on one of the settlements just along the mountain. I, however, was born on a boat headed to the eastern lands. A beautiful place, but I like it here too." While he seemed to simply be making small talk, he was constantly scanning the side of the road and nearby shrubs. It just wasn't safe to let your guard down at night.

As Skylark and the half-ogre talked, Cassie looked around. She knew that they had to stay on guard in the country, especially at night time. Attacks in the city were rare, but if there was one it would cause much damage. Cassie missed the sounds of nature at night. Something caught Cassie's attention. She turned to look at the bushes far off of the road. What is that? Cassie wondered as she stared at what she thought were glowing eyes. "Oops! I'm sorry." Since Cassie was looking at the bushes she wasn't watching where she was going and bumped into Skylark. She took a quick glance at the bushes again, but whatever it was that she saw was gone.

Amos would've answered had a scent not come to his nose. He immediately drew his sword and turned toward the bush Cassie was looking at. He didn't see anything, but he could certainly smell it. "There's something here, be careful." Was all he said in a hushed whisper, his eyes scanning the edge of the road for whatever it is that he smelled.