As usual, Cain's observation of his host was keen and relentless, leaving no detail untouched. Truly, he loathed speedily poring over every inch of every person he encountered -in the World of Light, everyone was so [i]boring[/i] but he had decided long ago that knowledge outweighed grudge. This particular examination turned up an interesting note: when Jira attempted to speak in prose, he was suddenly wracked by some inner convulsion. While this didn't really mean anything yet, it further expounded upon his weakness.

At least this weakling was content to repay the Twili for saving his life and livelihood. What he said concerning the red-haired merchant girl, however, perturbed him. As Jira approached Matt's stall, Cain decided he couldn't resist being pedantic. “You cannot run from your problems or your feelings,” he chided from the masked man's shadow. “For better or worse the girl is involved; are you going to let her face the odds alone? The only way to be sure something you want is never lost is to grab hold and cling tight. Trust me. And come to the graveyard after you've collected your merchandise, though where you're going you're not going to need any extra baggage to carry around.”

Feeling that the so-called Rain Spider would honor his request, Cain decided that before he returned he had better find Felicia and make sure that she, too, was on her way. With luck he might even be able to snag another sucker. Slithering from shadow to shadow across the ground like a dark flatworm, he searched the crowds from below. Thoughts were inevitably shifting to lunch, and he was aware of many festival-goers clumping together to find a place to eat en masse. From among their feet he could see it all. The eager, joyful faces, the loving couples and families, those playing games or simply talking. So like them it was, the perfect, chosen races of the cruel Goddesses, taking for granted the blessings heaped upon them. In Twilight there were no happy, warm rays of sun, or birds singing in the trees, or endless green fields on which to frolic. Life wasn't a celebration; it was a fight to survive. These people had some hardship to face, certainly, but under their Goddesses' protection their only real threats were the legendary incursions of the evil king. Cain and his people were denied this paradise, doomed to waste away if exposed to it as anything more than shadows.

He halted momentarily, cast upon the side of a bustling bakery stall, and cleansed his thoughts of their bitterness. The thoughts he had were the thoughts of his most hated enemy, the one that had taken his Princess away. The only differences between the usurper and the spy were love and duty. Yet they were enough.

Still, it put Cain in a sour mood to see others so happy. Only too eager to see the last of the festival, he hastened his search, now looking only for Felicia. Surprisingly, he found her almost instantly, not too far from a nearby well. What interested him more, however, was the stick-thin giant of a woman leaning against said well, just cleaning off the last of a loaf of bread. Cain supposed that he had to give Frore credit; he was unerringly loyal, if not unerringly obedient. The Twili transferred himself to her shadow gently, and she paused, aware of the familiar presence.

“You must stop wandering off, my dear.” Though he had never addressed Frore as such before, it seemed oddly fitting now. “Did anyone give you trouble?”

Frore shook her head, pale blue eyes fixated upon the darkness she cast, searching for the entity hidden inside. “No, Cain. A man gave me food. Icicle...got smaller.” She prodded the collapsed spear resting on the ground beside her, gleaming in the morning sun. Her tone was totally blank, softly sounding out each syllable. She seemed to have been thinking; that was new. Then again, so was being around so many people. “Cain, you are...my...?”

Wondering where exactly this was going, the spymaster interjected. “Your friend. Your only friend too, so we've got to stick together. Let's go now, eh?”

Slowly, the transfigured Chilfos nodded. “Yes. Friend.”

Rather than heading straight back to the cemetery, however, Cain made sure that his partner was headed in that direction before he stealthily abandoned her, backtracking until he found Felicia, still by the well, though she seemed to have settled somewhat emotionally by now. “Come,” he beckoned her from her shadow. “We're gathered at the graveyard now. There's a fairy there who speaks in dreams. Believe me, she's even more irritating in person. I realize that this whole situation seems somewhat mad, but I do hope you'll give trusting me a chance.”

He stalled a moment to hear her response, wanting to get back to Frore.