Saoul Cronos's Story

Netherfield

Benjamin growled, sure he was the most level headed of the brothers, and now out of him and Christos he was usually the one people prayed for when they needed an audience with an ancient. However he had pent up anger inside of him, "DAMN IT BLITZ!" he yelled as he trashed a rare vase he'd kept in his room, it had been a trophy of sorts from his father when Benjamin had first been acknowledged as a great military mind. "I should have seen this! How could he have been so foolish!" he said as paced around his room. "He spent all that time with that elf, even Christos admitted her beauty, I should have known Blitz was weaker and handled the temptress when I had my suspicions!" he said blaming Aria for the banishment of his brother. He slammed his hands into his bedroom wall, "I can't even help him now......" he thought for a few moments and then his eyes opened as he looked at the floor, "............The hell I can't," he growled as a plot unfolded in his head. He was clearly not willing to lose another family member to anyone.

Island of Shiori

Aria stepped onto the pier off a boat that had just docked on Shiori, she looked at the small village in front of her and said nothing as she began walking. Her heels made a slight clacking on the wooden pier as she walked down it and into the town, her destination was a small hut on the other side of town. It wasn't much but it was all she could afford to spare for shelter for Blitz while still maintaining her home and pharmacy and being able to afford food and things of the like. She walked in and looked around, it was in the same condition as when she left. The walls ceiling and floor were made of wood and there was one large room that served as the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and a separate room with a toilet and sink, if they wished to bathe they had to use a lake nearby, Aria had even been peeped on twice already. She smiled as she saw Blitz fixing his pants around his hips, shirtless, with his hair wet and she assumed he'd just bathed. She loved seeing him after her week long visits to her pharmacy to do research and handle her patients.

"Blitz," she said his name softly, her voice was enchanting and made one want to here more from her in every way, it seemed as though she was justly named when one heard her voice and knew her name was Aria. She walked up to him and kissed him, her hands rubbed up his arms and rested on his shoulders as she did and then she pulled back and looked up at him. "Blitz.... Please, leave this place with me," she said softly, "I hate leaving you here, these people look at you as a sack of money, they're just waiting for the chance to kill your.... or worse, capture you and give you to your brothers for the reward money they so desperately need!" she said in a soft, urgent, worried tone, "Please, I've got three friends who've agreed to help you in Longbourn, I can keep you there with me, and whenever there's an inspection or any army movement we can have you hide in the forest or something," she said as she looked up at him, "We get word from Thorton Lacey as they are always inspected first," she explained, "Please I can't keep leaving you here wondering if you're okay... if I'll come back and find you dead or given to your brothers," her voice grew weak and her hands slid up to cup his face gently, "I I don't know what I'd do," she whimpered before resting her head on his chest.

Pemberly

"This place is so weird and confusing!!!" Nanami thought in her sweet but hyper voice in her head as she walked around. She had a horse with her, it was white with red eyes, albino probably, it had reins and a saddle set up in a color scheme that matched Nanami's outfit, on it were large boxes filled with materials and other things she'd need, she'd been sent to Pemberly on a catering job by her mentor. Kaipo, her fluff ball creature, slept on the horse's saddled as they walked through the town a building next to her steamed up and then the steam rolled over into the the air and street, she peaked in to see a woman smithing weapons and then blinked and smiled as she looked down at her paper in her hands with an explanation on it. She patted her horse so it knew to stay where it was outside the shop and then she walked in, she watched the woman sharpen the blade she was working on and waited until the woman had stopped, whether the woman was done or just stopping to check the weapon's current quality Nanami didn't know.

"UHM!" she spoke a bit loudly so the woman would hear her but it was really more nerves than making sure she was heard. She coughed once to adjust her volume and then smiled sweetly, "M Miss, could you help me?" she asked as she looked down at the paper, "I uhm, I'm looking for someone named Saoul Cronos, I'm supposed to bake and cater and set up a surprise party for him, but I don't know who he is to hide it from him, or where this spot is to go and start preparing the foods." she explained as she held the paper to the woman which had an address on it and then some notes on foods and allergies. "I uhm.... I'd love any help you could offer me, I don't have money but I'm allowed to bring a guest, s so if you wanted food you could come to that address whenever you wanted tonight and get some. I don't know if you even know him or not but since you're both black smiths I thought I may as well ask and see if you even knew of him," she said softly, the main word to describe Nanami would be cute, as everything about her had a cute soft innocent quality to it, it usually made her seem younger than she was, which she didn't mind. She smiled up at the woman noting how lovely she was even dirty from her work and thinking about how she looked scary and nice at the same time.

Pemberly

Kaida looked up immediately at the call from the front of her shop. The small girl looked at her nervously before sputtering out what was on her mind. The lycan listened intently, her gaze never leaving the young woman's. Finally, she held out a piece of paper to Kaida, who took it gently. She eyed the notes, names and address written on it and then looked up at the girl.

"I know of Saoul, he is an apprentice to another blacksmith here in the city," Kaida stood from where she had been sitting. She walked over to the table that held all of her finished weapons and set the blade down there. Turning back to her visitor, she handed the paper back to her. "I'm Kaida Vylin. I will show you to Saoul's shop," she felt a kind of relief that she had an excuse to leave her work. Besides, she enjoyed her city and she'd only seen Saoul in passing several times. It was probably about time she officially met the young man, after all he was a blacksmith just like herself. She held a high love for the craft, and was interested in how far he'd come as an apprentice. Kaida left the shop, only looking back once to see if the girl would follow, and started down the street towards Saoul's shop.

Longbourn

The beautiful city of Longbourn welcomed him as he came back from his hunting trip. Two deer pelts were tossed easily over his shoulder as he made his way through the trees. The elves built their homes and shops using what was around them. Trees, bushes and vines all woven together to form homes for each of them. Durion walked up to one such house peeking in to see if anyone was there. Two children skipped past him as he stood by the open doorway. He sidestepped, smiling as they rushed passed him giggling.

"Come in, Durion. You have what I wanted?"

"I do, Alianti."

The woman named Alianti came into view after he stepped inside her home. He handed her the skins from his shoulder and she busied herself with putting them up on a rack. She would make leather from the skins, a favored trade item with other cities. Durion waited for her to finish. Once the skins were up on the racks, she walked back to him and handed him a small leather pouch. He heard the coins inside clink together as she placed it in his hand. He reluctantly took it, having never asked her to pay him for hunting for her. Still, Alianti insisted on doing so whether he wanted it or not.

"Thank you," he would have continued but she held up her hand cutting off the rest of his reply.

"You're welcome, now I'm sure you have other business to attend to other than entertain me for the rest of the day."

Durion smiled, a soft laugh filling him. He closed his fingers around the pouch and left her house. He made his way back to his own home to put away his weapons. Afterwards, he planned on going to the springs that was at the edge of the city.

Pemberly

Saoul slammed the hammer down onto the red hot metal that rested in his firm hand on the anvil. He was primarily a swords-crafter, which turned out to be slow, but constant work as swords were readily in demand. He rarely made things for other use unless he was requested to, but even then these things consisted of horseshoes, pots, kettles, and the like. Simple house hold things really. The lycan authorities only trusted more skilled hands to make the more important, and what he considered useful, items. He had heard that another blacksmith in town, Kaida, he believed, was the one most people went to.

Today was his birthday, but no one noticed as it was every year. He didn't mind, he liked working instead of celebrating anyway. After all, what was there to celebrate without his parents there to partake? Those damn werewolves! he thought angrily. As he did the heavy hammed missed just barely and sent a few sparks flying right towards his face. He growled and dropped the hot metal and threw the hammer across the room. It hit the wooden wall with a thud, the sound of wood cracking briefly filling the air. Some pots and horseshoes, various other things as well, clattered together from the force of the hammer hitting the hall, but nothing fell.

Saoul quickly reached in the water bucket to throw the cool liquid over his face. He kicked the bucket over suddenly and then turned it over to sit on the bottom of it, angry with himself and in a good deal of pain.

Island of Shiori

Blitz had just returned from a quick bathe in the lake and was dressing when Aria walked in. He looked up from his waist, where he was fixing his pants, and let his lips turn up in a bit of smile. Since he'd been exiled, all had been hell. He'd been lonely, even though Aria constantly visited, and he'd been bored. With nothing to do, nothing to climb, and quite frankly, no one to talk to, he was forced to sit all day, whether it be in the shack, or on the beach. The beach, he had to admit, was a beautiful view. The water was clear and full of life, and there was usually a nice breeze to lessen the intensity of the harsh sun. Everyone on the island avoided him. Even though he hadn't wronged them, they looked at him as if he were fresh meat...that and as if he were the scum of the land. He couldn't get a job, had no money to his name, and because of this, Aria had had to shell out her own money for him. This was something he felt horrible about -- he should never have had to ask her for that. But without any money to his name, he had no choice but to allow her to do it.

As if reading his mind, Aria walked forward and kissed him. He gently wrapped his arms about her waist and returned her gentle kiss. As she pulled back, she began to beg him to leave. Ever since purchasing this little shack for him, Aria had been trying to convince Blitz to leave. But he couldn't. Her intentions were good and her reasons were unarguably sound, but he couldn't. As she lay her head on his chest, Blitz remained silent and merely held her close for a few moments.

"I can't, you know that. The wrath my brothers would unleash would be unforgivable," he told her. "I can't put you, or your people, in that danger....and you know I'll be fine here. I can hold my own," he said lightly, hoping to ease her troubled mind.

Netherfield

Christos paced in the armory uneasily. He had throwing knives laid out on the table and with a sudden fit of rage, he grabbed one, turned and threw it in the direction of a guard standing motionlessly near the door. The knife grazed the man's neck, and the wide eyed guard still refused to move. He knew if he did, Christos wouldn't miss the next time. "Ah, steadfast and brave," Christos said as he moved towards the guard to pull the knife from the wall. "If only my brother had been so wise," he mused. He growled as he pulled the knife from the wall and walked away, pacing again.

"Get my brother," he ordered. The guard hesitated. "Not the banished one, you fool!" Christos chastised. The guard quickly ran off to obey, not wanting to get another knife thrown his way.

Pemberly

Nanami smiled up at the woman who had introduced herself as a, Kaida Vylin. As they left Kaida's smithery Nanami grabbed her horse and pulled it along following Kaida, "Thank you Lady Kaida!" she chirped up after she caught up with the lycan woman. As they walked she looked up at the woman, "So this is your first time actually meeting Sir Saoul? I wonder if he's how I imagine him to be," she said as she pictures a large burly red headed man with scars and a thick beard and ash on his face. "Lady Kaida how come you're a black smith? Did you always wanna be one? How did you know you wanted to be one? How'd you get into it? Was it because of your parents? I'm curious," she asked as small barrage of questions for the woman as they walked not wanting to walk in silence and also just being a very curious girl.

((I'm imagining they'll arrive at Saoul's the end of Qaida's next post so feel free to just assume Nanami walks in with her after tying her horse up Qaida))

Island of Shiori

Aria's heart sank as she clung to him, "No you'll wither away here and eventually be taken in, I know it, I'd rather risk my safety with you and without you and either way your brothers want me dead and you know it," she said softly into his chest before looking up at him with her large blue eyes that shone like a night sky, "Please leave with me the next time I go, you'd be much happier and you know it, I need you with me Blitz," she said as her hands came up to cup his cheeks and her thumbs stroked them gently as she looked at him. "Wouldn't you rather return to the mainland where you can have a job, and do something, I know nothing will be the same for you but it will be better than wasting away here day after day. There's lots of climbing and patrolling to be done in Longbourn, I could try to get you stations on night guard or something," she added trying to make him reconsider.

Netherfield

Benjamin was writing something down at his desk when a guard came in saying Christos wanted to see him. He sighed aggravated and waved the guard off before putting the paper in his desk and locking it. He got up and left his room and walked to the armory to see Christos scaring another guard who looked like he was ready to collapse from nerves but stayed unmoving. He pitied the guard slightly and raised his hand at him before waving it once, "Leave us," he said and the guard bowed and left. He looked at Christos inquisitively, "You called for me brother?" he asked as he meet Christos' gaze. His body language was stressed as usual since Bltiz's banishing, he made no attempt to hide his anger over it as he usually would try to do, he was angry at himself for not figuring it out and handling it before Christos found out, angry at Blitz for being so weak, angry at Aria for being a corrupting temptress, and angry at the world for challenging the laws of the land with their relationships. The day Blitz was banished he'd even gone so far as to go in a rage and change and hunt down and kill some of the closer law breaking couples.

Pemberly

Kaida couldn't help the small smile that formed on her lips as she listened to Nanami's rush of questions. She walked down the street slowly with the girl following her and the horse padding behind.

"Yes, this will be the first time I've officially met him. I've seen him in passing only, but never talked to him."

The next set of questions was a little more personal. Kaida ignored the crushing rage that filled her as she thought about her father and how he'd been taken away from her. She was determined to figure out where he was and get him back.

"I've always been interested in blacksmithing, and yes, I've always been one. I made my first dagger when I was very small. My father took me in as his apprentice and taught me everything I know. Since then I've practiced the craft every day. Many people ask me to do things for them, whether its weapons or armor. I do what I can to help my people. Its a passion, not just a craft."

She purposely left out the part of her father being arrested. She wasn't inclined to talk much about it to the girl that she'd just met. Kaida had tried to keep the clip in her voice at bay, and could only hope that the girl hadn't picked up on her unease. She'd never talked to anyone about her father, nor about what had happened that day. Kaida kept walking forward, waiting for more questions to answer. They soon came upon Saoul's shop, and Kaida slowed her pace, letting Nanami tie up her horse before going to the shop.

The loud sound of something crashing in the shop halted Kaida's steps completely. Her immediate reaction had her hand out behind her to keep the smaller Nanami from going any farther. Her other hand drew out her knife from her hip and she quickly lunged inside the shop. Upon seeing the young man seated upon a barrel and no one else inside, she felt slightly embarrassed. Slowly, she put away her blade and looked out to where Nanami stood watching with wide eyes. Kaida motioned that it was alright for her to come inside.

"Please, forgive my barging inside. From what I heard I'd thought there was a fight happening," Kaida said softly to Saoul. She looked down at him. Having only seen him in passing, she'd never gotten a good look at the man before. His silver eyes watched her, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. His long hair fell around his shoulders, some of it in his eyes. After a moment, she realized she was staring and quickly looked away. Kaida crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the ground.

"I'm Kaida, this young woman asked me to bring her to you."

Thorton Lacey

Her hand rested easily against the stone wall that she stood atop of. The other hand held the pommel of her sword that was sheathed at her hip. Sharp blue eyes swept the area outside of the city. She wore the traditional armor of the city guard, light leather with the cities emblem on it. The wind took hold of her blue locks, tossing them in her face. She ignored the irritating wisps of hair. The day had started off with no problems, nothing alerted her of anything out of the ordinary. In fact her shift was soon to be over.

However, as she stood there, her replacement guard making his way towards her, there was a sound of hooves pounding through the city down below. Turning, Velyssira leaned over the other side of the wall and watched as two horses rushed headlong through the opened gate. The shape shifter switched sides to watch the two as they streaked out into the open. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched as she recognized who they were. Taking two steps back, she then rushed the wall. Leaping up onto the stone, she threw herself off the edge. She could hear the other guard shouting in shock as she went.

Halfway down her fall, she let her body take on the form of a white falcon. The shift didn't take too long, but even so, she was fairly close to the ground before she finished the transformation. Velyssira's wings beat hard, pushing herself to her very limits. She shot off after the two horses, determination fueling her. She wanted to know what was going on. Before long she'd caught up to the horses and leveled herself with the head of the one that bore the shifter prince. She landed on the pommel of the saddle and cocked her white head to the side to look up at him.

"My Lord," she asked, her voice vibrating through the little birds form, "What has happened?"

Pemberly

Saoul looked up at the woman who practically pounced into his shop, a smaller creature behind her. His eye was still burning as he sat there, huffing in anger. His eyes carefully studied the lycan woman. She was the other blacksmith in town -- Kaida, he believed. He had reason to envy her, particularly since she was a woman doing a man's job better than a man himself. His eyes traveled her body and liked what he saw, though neither his eyes nor his expression let on what he was thinking. As she looked away, his attention shifted to the smaller creature. Surely she wasn't a lycan, she was much too small...and cute. It was odd. She had a childish air about her that made him find innocence lying plainly in her eyes.

After a moment's hesitation, Saoul stood up. "What can I help you with?" he asked. He didn't often speak, but that was a phrase he used a lot and felt quite confident in saying. He put the cooling metal aside on the work bench and went to pick up his hammer across the room. The wall had suffered a noticeable mark, but it was fine otherwise. Just what he needed...to topple the workshop from the inside, he thought. As he placed the hammer down as well, he grabbed a dirtied rag and wiped his face and hands, both of which were very dirty with grime and sweat. As he waited and listened even to the women, he went about cleaning up the shop, refilling the water bucket with cold water and pushing his hair up and out of his face. It was too damn hot, especially after he'd burned himself.

Island of Shiori

Blitz sighed as he listened to Aria. He hated how much her soft, beautiful voice could drive him crazy. It made him want to do everything she said, even if it wasn't the right thing. His hands gently came up to rest on her hands before pulling them down, holding them firmly. His hands were much larger than hers and certainly not as soft, but the sensation of the two coming together was incredible.

"Aria..." he said softly, almost in a whine. She was convincing him and he couldn't fight it. "I'm an outcast...even here on this deserted piece of land. Why would it be any different with your people? After all the suppression I've helped employ?" One of his hands let go of hers and cupped her small, delicate cheek. "Why do you want to endanger yourself?" he asked, actually finding it quite attractive that she was so rebellious.

Netherfield

Christos growled and threw another knife at a different guard as Benjamin walked in. "Oh, brother," he mused as he rubbed his hands together as if wiping dirt from them. "So what are we to do?" he demanded. As he waited, he saw the look in Benjamin's eyes and turned with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh, come, come. Father would have done the same thing. He broke the law and tradition. I had no choice. Besides...maybe it will give him time to think about what he's done," he muttered. He wasn't happy that he'd exiled Blitz, but he'd had to. Quite frankly, he still saw it as the right decision. Blitz was a fool and he deserved the consequences of his actions.

Pemberly

Nanami followed Kaida and smiled at her answers clearly not picking up on the subtle tones of her voice that she was upset. Soon they were at a smithery and heard a loud crash. Kaida motioned for Nanami to wait outside so she did until it was safe. She walked in and looked around before sheepishly scurrying over to Kaida. She took the room in before looking to Saoul. He was nothing like she imagined, young, not really burly, and quite handsome, but that made him scary to her, she'd hoped for a jolly red giant. She hated her job at this moment and as he asked what they needed she scurried out of the shop and got a small pink and white box off the horse, one the top of the box was her bakery's logo. She walked back in and up to Saoul, "Uh.... on behalf of the 'Fairy Dust Bakery' I have been asked to cater a small party for you tonight in celebration of your birthday and am here to say," as she spoke she opened the box and took out a small simple individual sized cake that was chocolate with white icing and inside was cream between the layers on it and black icing was written "Happy Birthday You Old Dog!" "SURPRISE!" she said hesitantly before shoving the cake in his face which was what her teacher had told her to do. She stood there watching some of the bits of cake fall from his face waiting for a reaction and praying it was a nice on but ready to hide behind Kaida if needed.

Island of Shiori

Aria smiled up at Blitz and let him hold her hands and as he cupped her cheek she nuzzled into it. "It's true you have done bad things to people in that past, But only because you did nothing to stop it, Christos is the one who pulls the lever on everything," she said softly, "Some people are willing to give you a chance, you should squander it just because you're afraid that you'll fail them or put me in danger. The winds are changing and something is coming, if the world changes, for better or worse, I want you to be with me for it, not hiding away on some island in shame that you shouldn't feel in the first place," she said softly as she leaned up and kissed his forehead before tugging his arms, "Come with me, right now, we can take the ferry and leave this very instant," she said trying to tug him along.

Netherfield

"He may be a fool for falling for it but it's that damn elf maiden's fault she bewitched him with drugs, she must have there is no way Blitz would just choose her over all the werewolf women that throw themselves at him," he said with no real tone in his voice as he concealed just how truly angry he was. He paced a small bit before heading over to Christos' side and looking at him. "I will not lose my little brother to that witch," he said coldly, "We've lost too much of our family already," he added before taking a knife from Christos and throwing it and the knife split the bow they'd taken from Aria while she was prisoner in two. "I'm going to redeem him and get him back here, and I'm going to make that wench pay," he added. Christos was normally the calm and collected and kindest of the three ancients but it was obvious that he had a vendetta now.

Pemberly

Kaida's eyebrow rose as she watched Nanami attack Saoul with the cake that she held in her hand. After a moment, looking between Saoul's face and that on Nanami's she couldn't help but smile. A soft laugh escaped her before it became uncontrollable. Of course it only lasted for a moment before she composed herself and stood with one hand over her mouth to cover her smile. The look on Nanami's face was most hilarious as the girl wasn't entirely sure what to do next after shoving the cake at Saoul. Kaida tried hard to keep her laughter under control.

The lycan looked startled, but she wasn't sure how long that was going to last, so she moved next to Nanami and put a hand on the girls shoulder. With one hand on her hip next to her weapon she gazed at Saoul. He was quite attractive, even if he did have the sugary substance on his face. Reaching over she took a bit of the frosting from his cheek with her finger and put it in her mouth. Kaida looked down to Nanami, gave a hum of pleasure at the taste and then walked over to an empty bucket.

"I'll get you some water to wash with. Try not to eat the girl, I'd like to keep her around," Kaida said softly before leaving the shop to get water.

Thorton Lacey

Velyssira moved swiftly down the slope into the town beyond. The footprints were fading away, getting mixed in with that of the people's in town. The shape shifter glowered at the ground as she tried to make out the wolf prints. No matter what she did, though, she couldn't pick out the trail. She'd lost it, and that thought alone was enough to put her in a very sour mood. Glaring at anyone that dared to look at her, she walked through the small town in search of the girl, hoping that she'd gotten away from her captor.

She had run through every alley and shop that she could find, and still she didn't see anything. Finally she resorted to asking the villagers if they had seen anything or heard anything peculiar during the night. She was making good progress with that approach, some villagers reported hearing 'something' moving through the village. However, they couldn't exactly tell her what it was they heard. No one saw the beast either. Frustration fueled her as she entered another shop. She moved to the man behind the table.

"Did you see or hear anything strange last night?" She demanded, her patience worn thin.

"No I didn't, so leave," the man replied in kind.

Velyssira noted the hesitation in his voice, the lie slipping between his teeth was too obvious for her to ignore. She gave a growl of rage, drew her dagger and reached across the table to grab the man by his throat.

"You realize who you're speaking to, don't you? Tell me, or I'll have your head brought to the Prince."

"I didn't see anything!" He stuttered out.

"Who are you protecting? You saw something, didn't you? Speak!" She gave him a hard shake, her cold blade pressed harder into his skin.

"It looked like a wolf! A big one, it was too dark to tell exactly what it was. It moved fast too, it didn't stop, please... let me go," he wined at her.

"Which direction was it heading?"

All she got from him was a shaking finger pointing in the direction that led out of town and towards Pemberly.

Island of Shiori

Blitz sighed silently and stayed put when the smaller, much weaker Aria tried to tug him along with her. He pulled her back into him quickly and pinned her against the wall of the small shack, his hands on either side of her face. He loved the slight look of shock that would most likely come over her face, but even more, he loved how much it turned him on. As he pinned her there, their bodies only inches apart, Blitz smiled a bit. He'd missed this.

"Aria," he said softly. "...This isn't right." It was a soft protest, showing her she'd won. He leaned down and kissed her deeply before whispering against her lips, "Let's go then." He turned away silently and began to gather his few possessions before walking to the door and waiting for her.

Netherfield

Christos growled and slammed his dagger down into the table as he listened to his brother. He stopped and looked up smiling a bit. "Of course...Blitz was always stupid, but never that stupid. That....witch must have poisoned her." He went over to Benjamin and grabbed his shoulder firmly, his fingers digging into the man's tough skin. "You always had a level head...." he said as if basking in triumph over a new idea.

Pemberly

Saoul was quiet as he watched the girl, her pink hair bouncing around her as she moved. He was confused, but when he heard the word birthday, he perked up. No one had ever recognized this day as his and now this girl, who he didn't even know, was telling him something about his birthday. He saw her take out a box and wondered if it would be his first present...what he wasn't expecting was the sudden smashing of cake in his face. Saoul's eyes squeezed shut and he tensed, but didn't move as some bits of the fluffy cake fell from his face. He was confused...He thought this girl was going to tell him happy birthday, but instead the first cake he'd ever been offered had been shoved in his face. It made him sad for a brief second until he realised he shouldn't have expected anything different. He stayed silent as Kaida took some of the cake from his face and went to get water.

For a few short moments, he stood there in silence as the sweet treat stuck to his grimy, dirty face. "Thank you," he said softly, his voice low and flat before he reached over to grab the dirty rag to wipe his face off. He wasn't mad; he couldn't be when really this was the best birthday he'd had....even though it wasn't that great at all.

Pemberly

Kaida returned to the shop with the water. She set it down next to Saoul who had wiped his face, but had only managed to make the mess... messier. She smiled up at him before she got up and went to lean against the wall of his shop. She rested one hand on the hilt of her sword. Kaida wondered how old the lycan was, he looked young, but she too looked young and she had lived for quite some time.

"How old are you, Saoul? And happy birthday," she said softly after reaching up and brushing some silky strands of her hair from her face. It felt nice to speak to someone who shared her craft. In fact, she hadn't really spoken to anyone since the loss of her father. Talking to the attractive looking lycan was... calming.

Longbourne

Durion was back in his house, waxing the string of his bow when the commotion started. It wasn't loud, but there were whispers from the other elves, someone had entered the forests of Longbourne and they were unsure of the persons intentions. He finished his bowstring quickly and then strapped on the quiver to his back. Once outside he made his way towards the edge of the city to see what was going on.

In a matter of moments, a silver fox came trotting into the city. As Durion watched, the fox blurred, the form seemed to disintegrate before reconstructing and blurring back into view. The woman stood there watching the elves as they watched her. Deep blue hair flicked across her face and shoulders from the soft breeze that shifted through the city. Her bright eyes narrowed in on Durion. He wasn't sure he liked the look on her face.

"Do you need help?" one of the elves called.

Her gaze shot to the man then back to Durion, she never answered his question, instead she imposed her own, "I'm here on behalf of Prince Lucian. I seek his sister and I have been led here. Where is she?"

There was an underlying threat to her tone that didn't sit well with Durion. He watched her warily, moving his bow in front of himself, preparing to knock an arrow and fire if needed. The woman noticed his movement and she bent down into a defensive position. Her lips pulled back, showing the sharpened teeth of a shape shifter. This isn't good...