Credathana

((There should really be a way to change post location, or at least be able to delete... x_x))

Brennan walked back towards the house barely noticing the green around him or the breeze on his skin, lost in his own thoughts the world around him could have been full of fire and brimstone or flying pigs and he would not have noticed. His thoughts were dark and almost circular and try as he might he could not break the cycle. So many of the residents of Dusma seemed carefree and light in thought and deed and he seemed the odd one out as he was not carefree and was not sure he could be even if he wanted to. With an effort he attempted to shrug off his dark thoughts as right now it served him no purpose.

As he approached the house he heard voices, one he recognised as Keaira's but the other he took a few moments to realise who it was. Finally he recognised the other voice as belonging to Declan. Brennan frowned not particularly liking the idea of Declan socialising with Keaira but then he did not like anyone being too close to her. He felt a flash of possessiveness and forced it down as it would not help him right then, but it took effort as he felt protective over her and it was hard to ignore that instinct. He walked into the clearing and saw the two of them sitting outside with a kettle and stove in between them and drinking tea.

"Declan." Brennan greeted the other man coolly. His eyes were cold and not particularly welcoming and he used his height to his full advantage, towering over the other man whilst he was sitting. He then glanced at Keaira and his gaze warmed and showed more friendliness than anyone else ever saw from him.
"Keaira."

Dusma Village

Keaira had been so intent on Declan that she didn't even hear Brennan approach. When he spoke, her eyes snapped to him, a smile overcoming her face. She jumped up, beaming.
"I thought you might come by," she said, "hold on just a moment. I'll fetch another teacup!" With that, she smiled brightly at Brennan and dashed into the house. She scanned the cabinets briefly as she tried to recall where the teacups were. She opened the first one that came to mind and found them there. She picked up a few of them and set them back down, wanting to make sure the third cup would match the other two.

Brennan watched the other man stand and face off against him, outwardly he appeared calm and aloof, distant as though Declan was no more bother than a passing fly. Inwardy he was almost amused by the other mans threat and he kept the wry smile off his face with an effort. He raised one eyebrow at Declans words.
"Keaira belongs to herself unless I am mistaken." He replied still in the same cold voice.
Brennan was not an overly musular man but he had the height and breadth of shoulder to appear bigger than he was and he always made a point of standing at his full height and most did not reach high enough to look him in the eyes and even then many would not so. He found it interesting that this man was clearly unafraid of him not that it mattered as Brennan was not trying to instill fear, al least not yet.

He did not know enough about this man and Brennan decided that it was something he needed to rectify as the man clearly had an interest in Keaira and that was something to watch. Anyone showing an interest in the girl bothered Brennan and Declan more so. He would certainly be spending more time learning about this young man and how he fit into the pattern of things. Finally tiring of the young man's posturing Brennan looked at him again and shook his head slightly.
"Sit down before you do something foolish." He said and his voice held the weight of the many long ages that Brennan had lived through. He had not the time nor patience to deal with the other man's impulsive and aggressive behaviour.

With salted pork in tow, Demp warily edged out of the butcher shop back into a thinning market place. The sun had past its noon mark and began the slow slog towards the western mountains. The villager crowd became diffuse, those still looking to purchase stepped quickly, looking at the falling sun with dismay. Merchants called once more their best deals of the day out of the vain hope of just one more customer to make up for the lost profits. Seeing none, they moodily grumbled and sorted through their book keeping and their gold, as if counting the coins could somehow multiply them. A familiar scene to Demp; during his trek from Bastpon to Ardi, he had learned to navigate the market of every city and town. A central hub, usually a monument or landmark, marked the center of the market, and radiating from it would be divisions of certain commercial sectors: the fisheries, the forges, the farmer's market, the brothel, etc. The young machinist held markets as the one exception to his agoraphobia; though they were wide open spaces and full of potential assassins, thieves, shoemakers, their constant chatter and movement all flowing to the rhythm of silver and gold reminded Demp of a wheeled carriage. In fact, why not design a sort of market-machine, holding non-perishable goods in a container. The goods are dispensed by the machine through a lockable flap with a handle when an amount of gold was deposited in small slot, containing a pan balance which measures the gold. When the pan balance weighs down to a certain point, it releases a spring which was locking the flap box. Wait, then what's to stop the customer from taking all the goods from the box? Need to design a crank mechanism which..

With gears and cogs twisting and turning in his head, Demp Ortollo walked straight out onto the dirt path leading from the market into the central village complex. Not a minute later he came upon the inn and quietly entered the lobby. He grunted a greeting to the innkeeper sitting behind the reception desk. The sparsely furnished lobby contained the aforementioned small bookkeeping desk, a stone fireplace, and four wooden tables with four chairs each arranged in a square pattern in a square pattern and polished to an obnoxiously clean gleam. A chain lantern hung from overhead, giving the place the feeling of being unfinished and (though Demp reminded himself that they used wood for everything in Dusma) rusted. Promptly, Demp climbed the stairs across the lobby and ascended to his floor and room, checking his door frame to see if someone had disturbed the length of string he had placed in jamb of the door under the logic that should someone come into his room while he was away, the string would become unpinned and fall. Seeing the string still in place, Demp entered the room and shut and locked it behind him. He settled into his chair after accounting for all of his belongings and thrice checking the window.

He waited for night to fall by drawing the designs for his market-machine and wondering how to keep someone from tipping the machine over.

Brennan listened thoughtfully to what Keaira had said and also what she did not say, she seemed somewhat confused by Declan's interest in her and yet she clearly liked the man. Yes this would definately bear watching. He saw Declan return with a chair and smiled slightly to himself sure the younger man had been eavesdropping as he had taken longer than he should simply to fetch a chair. But the thought did not bother Brennan, let him have what he thought were clever moves as Brennan was not threatened by him. He had seen far worse in his many years in this life.

He noticed Keaira glancing slightly forlornly at her half empty cup and he lifted the small yet elegant teapot and raised his eyebrow questioningly. "More tea?"
Because he had been raised to be well mannered he offered to refill Declan's cup as well as he could tell it had cooled a great deal in the time the young man had been away from the table. He did not say anything as Declan asked the question as he was interested in how Keaira would respond.

(wrong location hah)

Brennan stood when she did and standing at his full height he towered over the young woman but she still continued to look at him with that same trust and innocence that she always had. It was not misplaced for Brennan would never hurt her and any who tried would suffer greatly at his hands, when he cared about someone they gained his full protection. He put his empty cup onto the table and nodded once in agreement to her request, he knew that if he refused she would simply fret over it and at least this way he would be there to reassure her. Besides once she had seen it then her curiosity would be sated and she would most likely find something else interesting instead. Keaira found questions and beauty even in the smallest thing and there was always something new to hold her attention.

He glanced at Declan not because he cared what the other man thought or whether he would accompany them but because it was the polite thing to do and if Brennan was anything he was polite. But he was not about to wait long for the other man to decide and he gently put Kearia's hand in the crook of his arm and turned her in the direction they were going. They made an interesting picture with Brennan looking tall dark and serious and Keaira small bright and happy. She always made him feel almost young again and to someone of his age that was a rare and special gift and one he would always be grateful to her for, it was also why he spent so much time in her company.

"Will you be joining us Declan?" He asked coolly.

Brennan was a little surprised that Declan had chosen not to go with them but then he was already sure there was more to the younger man than he let on, he felt...different. Brennan had been around for a very long time and had learned to trust his instincts and they were telling him that Declan was not normal and possibly not even human. Ordinarily that would be of no concern but the fact that Declan seemed so interested in Keaira made it his concern. But he pushed thoughts of Declan aside and focussed on Keaira. She looked up at him with those large, trusting eyes and Brennan wondered as he had before how anyone could be so innocent. He was certain that without his protection Keaira would very quickly be taken advantage of in one way or another and he did not believe that she was capable of living without his protection. In many ways she was like a child and like a child needed the protection of someone older and stronger.

He looked down at her and shook his head in response to her question. "No it is not far and it is a pleasant day for a walk is it not?"
He guided them out of the clearing as they talked and through the forest at a relaxed pace as he wanted Keaira to believe that there was no reason to be alarmed by the barrier and so there was no need to hurry to see it.

Brennan watched utterly frozen as Keaira's hand seemed to pass straight through the barrier and come out the other side, he was completely taken aback which was very unusual for him. He always carefully considered all of the angles and variables of a situation and as a consequence very little genuinely surprised him. But what Keaira was doing had succeeded in making him feel at a loss for words something he had not felt in a very long time and he was unsure as to how to proceed. He settled on showing concern for Keaira's welfare as she had no idea what magic such as the barrier could do to her, most likely it was harmless but she did not know that.

"That is certainly strange." Brennan said managing to keep his voice calm. "But perhaps you should avoid doing that as I do not know whether it will have an ill effect upon you." He spoke the last words gravely hoping to instill in her a little concern over the barrier.

The walk towards the cottage was unbearably silent, and tense. Fiona was extremely angry, only succeeding in infuriating herself even further by dwelling on the situation. Obviously, since Caine didn't deny keeping secrets, he was hiding something. It just made her all the more upset, and though she'd never confess it, all the more fearful and worried. Being so alike in terms of valuing honesty, it made Fiona uneasy with this whole situation. They'd always told everything to each other, so for him to be keeping a secret from her willingly was quite shocking for her. On top of that, whatever this secret is, was making him comfortable with being in this dreadful little town. The Caine she knew..or rather thought she knew, would've been jumping at every chance he got to free them. This was what probably what was the most unsettling. Why did he suddenly want to stay here of all places? Was there some kind of trouble he was in, and foolishly trying to avoid by staying in Dusma? A secret debt to be paid off? Or worse, some secret lover he wanted to stay close to by being here?

Fretting like this all the way to the cottage, Fiona just about collapsed on her bed when she had made it to her room. This whole day had taken a toll on her, mentally and physically. After getting up for a moment to draw a bath, she raided through her closet for a towel, and some purple pyjamas. She then brought them into the bathroom with her and locked the door, determined to have a mind-easing moment to herself.

After staying in the bath for what seemed like hours to her, She got out, changing into her nightclothes and going back to her room, finally able to collapse on her bed comfortably. A flitting thought came to her mind, suggesting that she go and help Caine with dinner, but chose against it, for the sake of not wanting another fight, and not giving in when she was this angry at him. Suddenly feeling restless, she began to do what calmed her down best- sketching. This time, she was drawing her clearing from memory, trying to focus on every little detail she could remember, until it seemed that the sketch had taken a mind of its own and two figures, resembling her and Caine appeared in her drawing, with the both of them tense, angry, and like always- arguing. Now frustrated with even the sketch, she threw her drawing across the room with her pencils, while emmitting a loud sigh. As much as she hated to admit it... if things kept up the way they were, she...might cave first. She sighed again, this time a bit softer. Everyone knew how much she hated caving first.

Brennan watched with increasing consternation as Keaira gradually began to be more aware of the world around her including the hawk that had been observing them from nearby. Brennan had noticed its presence but ignored it as simply a curious creature but now he took a closer look and realised that something was not right about the bird. Senses honed from many long years told him to be wary of the bird and he liked it not at all that it had now landed on Keaira. But he had learned the hard way that recklessness usually caused more harm than good and watching and waiting were more effective methods. He would not harm the bird whilst it was with Keaira as he did not want to damage the relationship he had with her but he would be keeping a close eye on it from now on.
He moved closer so that he stood by her shoulder making sure he was within easy reach if the bird attacked her. He knew she would not expect such an attack as she was too innocent for that which was why she needed someone like him to protect her.

"Be cautious Keaira, the bird is wild and therefore unpredictable." He said calmly.

Brennan watched as she stroked the bird and he was reminded of her natural affinity with all creatures in nature, if he had not been so concerned about this sudden turn of events he might have thought it was beautiful. But it worried him greatly that the barrier was not as impenetrable as it had first seemed and was in fact flawed. Adding to that was Keaira was behaving unpredictably and Brennan was more than a little concerned as he disliked it when events did not unfold as he had thought they would. He had seen little risk in taking her to see the barrier and now it would seem that more had been lost than gained. But he did not regret the decision as he had learned that regrets were meaningless and simply wasted valuable energy. Energy he would use in learning who or what that bird really was as Keaira was right. It was not a normal bird. Being the way he was meant that he was able to pick up on things such as this and it was a mystery he intended to solve.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he noticed Keaira suddenly become very still and stare off into the distance as though seeing something he could not or perhaps...remembering something.

"Keaira, what is it?" He asked and the concern was evident in his voice.

Brennan prided himself on being a calm, contolled person who rarely allowed emotion to cloud his judgement as all that did was make a person weaker and more prone to making rash decisions. Yet when he saw the look Keaira gave him it sent alarm through his entire being. Did she know the truth about him? If so how did she know? What could he do about it? All of these thoughts and more whirled through his mind and he tried to order them in a cool logical fashion like he did with everything. He tried to break the situation down and consider it from every angle, and plan an action for each variable but his mind kept returning to the fear that she knew what he was and would no longer trust him. If she did not trust him he could not watch and protect her which was vital.

He opened his mouth to speak, though having no real idea what he would say, but stopped as he saw her suddenly turn and run. It occurred to him then that she was remembering something from her past something that was teaching her more about herself. That was dangerous and Brennan knew that he had to try and prevent her from remembering too much but he honestly had no idea how to do that. But more important than that right then was her safety and he did not trust no harm to come to her whilst she was alone. He took after her confident that at the speed he ran he would catch up with her easily, he just hoped no one sae him as that could raise questions he was not willing to answer.
"Kearia stop!" He called, hoping that his commanding tone would halt her bolting as she had responded to it before.