The town of Seles.
The whole population had come together to bring their annual festivities into full swing. The entire celebration lasted for a little over a week, giving people from all over Endiness a chance to participate in the Dragon Festival. This day was only the first of eight, it celebrated the Red-Eyed Dragoon. Each day revered one of the seven mythical beings, bringing out different games and exotic foods.

It had taken Seles more time to grow as a community than most of the other small villages. This was attributed to how everyone kept the events at the Divine Tree a secret. Word spread several years later and people of all walks of life flocked to the area. While they were disappointed that Dart and Shana had already passed, rumors that they had hid some of the dragoon spirits within the village causing many to set up residence. The locale has been scoured many times, but to this day, no one has found evidence of a secret chamber or really anything.

As the sun fell, the streets came to life. The soft hum of chatter could be heard across the whole area as the streets were lined with paper lanterns of differing colors, lighting up the buildings in a beautiful assortment of reds, greens, yellows, and many others. At the center of everything was the Monument of Dragons. The entire town was spread out around this statue. It depicted a dragon crawling out if the stone. No one knew what it meant as it was donated to the town as an anonymous gift.

Stalls were set up all around the monument. Prizes varied from cute plush animals to hand crafted wooden ones. The food were even more numerous as people came from all over the world. Simple comfort foods from Serido to elegantly decadent creations of Deningrad to exotic wingly desserts. This was the only place you could get them all in one day.
To celebrate the fire dragon spirit, the town showcased spicy foods and games that focused on the color red. Many of the towns folk were dressed in colors reminiscent of fire or wore red dragon costumes.

The games were mostly comprised of small easy ones, usually for children. There were few stalls that provided a good challenge for the adults, but everyone was really looking forward to the finale on the eighth day. A friendly tournament to decide the strongest person in Endiness. The prize money was nothing to be scoffed at either. 5,000 gold coins was enough to entice anyone.

Jerus strode through the streets of Seles, listening to the sounds of the festival and smelling the food as he ate something he'd bought from a stall a little ways behind him. He wasn't sure of the name, it had just looked tasty and it was. Looking around, he smiles at all the joviality around him, glad that there was such an amazingly joy causing celebration for the land. "Man, I wish mom and dad could have come with me, but dad always has refused to leave the forge for longer than a night." He sighs and continues on.

Veragwen sat cross-legged on a bench by the monument with her sword and shield propped against her leg. She was technicaly on guard duty, but with as few of them as Seles has all they could really do is keep an eye out for anything destructive. What she was really looking forward to was the tournament. In previous years Vera had declined joining thinking that there was no way she could beat the best of the best, or at least the best of the warrior that came. But this year, she felt ready. She was pretty confident she could at least place pretty high, maybe even win!

It was time to prove that she was more than just a pretty face!

As she nodded or gave a greeting to people she knew, or didn't know, she found herself listening intently to a nearby singer practicing her routine. It seemed she had one written out for each day of the festival, as this song seemed to be a lot about the Red-Eye Dragoon. She had a very entrancing voice. Soft and pleasing to the ears, but still quite audible, so that even those farthest away could hear her. She wondered if it was that singer she has heard about for awhile now. Elayna something. Rumor has it she was also a capable fighter. Vera wondered if she was going to compete....

----

Elayna danced around her little stage that had been set up for her as she sung her song dedicated to the Red-Eye Dragoon. She was technically just practicing, but she knew it all by heart and could perform it exactly as she wanted to, so it basically just become a show. She wore a rather revealing red dress, showing off her shapely figure, decorated with flame patterns. She didn't quite like wearing it, but she did look quite nice. Her movements were graceful and effortless. She could tell she had a few people mesmerized since they just stood there and watched despite all the things there were to do at the festival. She noticed a large number were men, but that didn't surprise her.

She had heard about a tournament that was going on on the last day and the reward for winning was quite a good sum of money. She wanted to go, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to since she'd have to perform as well. Ah well, she was making money for performing as well!

The noise... is bothersome.

He thought as he stood amidst the raucous sounds of the festival. To him, humans were unsightly and cruel. They bounced against each other without regard and did things for greed that their hearts knew was the wrong choice. How could he ever forgive them? A girl from months past asked him to once, to forgive and forget. But he simply could not. It was impossible when the only person that ever meant something to him was killed in front of him... when he witness the cruelty of humans consistently.

Faeri lurched forward as a man bumped his shoulder in a hurry to catch up with woman and girl dressed in red. The man picked up the little girl and embraced her in his arms before pulling the woman close and kissing her forehead. Faeri scowled, dusted off the stain of humanity, and continued down Seles. The further he walked the more he felt his agitation grow. The humans around him was so foolishly content that it bothered him mentally. At the moment, he should only be worried about putting distance between himself and the rogues chasing him. But-

Faeri turned suddenly, the sound of a melodious voice inching in his ears.

"Beautiful." he mused to himself.

When he caught sight of the crowd that was formed around the singer, he anchored himself. He refused to be crowded with anymore sweaty humans than necessary, though the woman's voice was a delicate treat, she would have to be a treat that he missed out on. He turned his attention to the carts that offered food and water, approaching one soon afterwards. A balding man with burly arms and an obviously fake smile welcomed him. Faeri only pointed to the cheapest meat. As the man turned to fix it, Faeri place his back against the cart, folded his arms, and caught sight of a female guard nearby.

A second later he broke it and pretended he hadn't noticed the authority presence in the area.

"Gods, I knew I should have avoided the town. Walking straight into this festival was a bad idea."

"This is soooo much fun!" Marmalade was always the first to join in on fun. She made Kest buy different colored handkerchiefs they could wear during the celebration. She herself hadn't been able to buy them because 'They didn't serve finners.' Kest wanted to give the merchant a piece of his mind, but seeing his little sisters eager face forced him to reconsider.

They had just moved to Seles. It was smaller than most of the other towns they had been to, but it was always the same for Marmalade. Glares, profanity, whispered gossip. It wasn't fair, its not her fault she was born different. Kest noticed the lack of any sort of xenophobia all day. Maybe people are more focused on these silly myths than berating a single mer-girl.

"Oh! Kest, look at that woman over there! She sounds so lovely.." The two made their way toward a growing crowd. There a woman was singing and dancing a song dedicated to the first dragon. Marmalade swayed gently to the tune while Kest himself took a look around.

The shrine itself was very imposing. The history behind it was more mysterious than the events that led to the explosion of the Divine Tree. If that even happened. What really caught his eye was the young woman sitting nearby. He felt his palms grow sweaty and knew he was about to make himself look like a fool in front of this beauty. He walked up to her as casually as possible, nearly tripping over himself in the process. He chuckled nervously as he reached her position.
"Hey!-- I mean... uh, hi." Kest rubbed the back of his neck and looked around, his mind racing for something, anything, to say. He hoped she couldn't see the panic on his face as him mind went completely blank. "Nice, er, weather.. we are.. having. Right?" his voice seemed to echo across the entire area. Good thing most of the lanterns were red. He hoped she wouldn't be able to tell he was blushing.

As the tune went on, Marmalade swung her hand out to get her brother's attention, startled when he wasn't next to her.
"Brother?" she called out, but noticed where he had gone and who he was talking to. She smiled and turned back toward the music.

He had almost forgotten about the town festival. If things had gone as planned, Richard would have been taking advantage of the crowds to sell goods from the farm. That was all but a distant thought. Right now, he needed to find a certain person, one of the only people in Seles that could hope to help him: Veragwen, Captain of the Seles Guard.

Even though they didn't know each other well, she was the only one he could even think of trusting. After seeing that shadow sneaking away from his home, he didn't know what to think. Someone was trying to kill him, but why? What did he ever do to anyone? What could-

A brush to his shoulder snapped him from his thoughts. Richard leaped to the side in a panic. He frantically raised his arms to protect himself and closed his eyes to prepare for the worst.

When nothing happened, he opened his eyes again. An old man with a cane was giving him a confused stare. "Are you hard of hearing or something?" he said, "I said I was sorry for bumping in to you."

Richard suddenly remembered where he was. In the middle of Seles, an assailant was unlikely to go unnoticed. Who in their right mind would commit a crime in broad daylight? He put his arms down and tried to pretend that the last few seconds didn't happen. "Oh, uh - sorry, sir." He said to the old man, "It's alright."

"Whatever" The old man said, rolling his eyes and muttering as he limped away on his cane. "Kids these day..."

Richard sighed. It was only then that he realized how ridiculous he looked. He was only making himself stand out even more by overreacting to every little thing. The person who killed him wasn't going to be an old man with a cane. Then again, he had no idea who was trying to kill him in the first place. It was why he needed to fine Veragwen and get help as soon as possible.

After a bit of searching, he finally found her just outside of a growing crowd. Vera was sitting on a bench on what he could only assume to be guard duty. Richard breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could finally get some help. He quickly made his way towards the bench.

"Vera!" he called, "Veragwen, I need-" his voice stopped and lowered when he realized that someone might be listening. "I need your help. Is there any chance you could spare a moment?"

Veragwen noticed the man against the cart. She was after all constantly looking around. He seemed like trouble. She also noticed the man named Kest approaching her. She let out a special whistle that all the guards knew and pointed out the man against the cart. The guards nearby would now keep a close eye on him.

She stood as Kest came to a stop in front of her. She smiled at him, "Hello...Kest, right? It's been a bit since I last saw you. How're you doing? And yes, it's a good day for a festival, isn't it? Where is your sister?" she asked looking around, she spotted her watching the performer, "People aren't giving her too much trouble are they? Hopefully nobody from Seles, at least, or I'd be very disappointed in them..." she trailed off as Richard approached her. He seemed quite frantic. She held up a finger at Kest, "...Sorry, hold on, this man seems to be very troubled."

She met him halfway, and gave him a concerned look, she put a hand on his shoulder to help steady him, "Richard, right? Of course I have a moment. What's the matter? You know I'll help however I can....but first why don't you take a breather to gather yourself." she said, guiding him back over to her bench and help him sit down.

----

Elayna continued her performance, watching people come and go. She even noticed a half-mermaid in the crowd. She hadn't expected to see one here, but she supposed all sorts of people came for the festival. She didn't really have anything against them, but a lot of people put a bad light on them. Regardless, she seemed to be quite enjoying her song. She came to an elegant stop and pointed at the mer-girl, then gestured towards herself, "You there! You seem to be enjoying the performace, but I think I know something you'd enjoy more~" she said, sing-songily, and giggling, "Would you like to dance with me?" she asked, smiling at the girl.

The vendor spoke up jovially then. "Here's your meat on a stick young man. Its best in all of Seles."

Faeri lingered his gaze on the woman-guard from before. The whistle that had softly came from her had to have been some alert. He looked around the crowd, spotting guards between the meat-piles of festive humans and noticed a few of the guards had took a liking to him. It was small but the uniform turns and glances in his direction was enough.

He tsk'd lowly before exchanging his gold for the meat. Dammit, he cursed. Now this'll take forever. Acting human, maintaining a front... I don't have a choice anymore.

A glance over his shoulder revealed the guard-woman was corned by two men. One that looked to be in trouble and another that was blushing red like monkey's behind. Now was his chance. Casually he strode off towards the crowd that had gathered around the dragon-singer. He slid through the mass, marginally avoiding their bodies. It was quite frankly an inhuman act, a art of nimble footwork.

Once near the front of the crowd, he looked up at the source of his once-unintended fascination, and through his bronze-eyes he searched for a stain in her humanity. Any hints of extreme greed or sin. All beings carried them, most of them were extremely secretive about it. But he wondered what he'd found out about her?

Faeri bit into the meat he purchased earlier.

Jerus happened to have been walking by a person when he spoke. "Gods, I knew I should have avoided the town. Walking straight into this festival was a bad idea." He stopped and took a moment longer to look at the man, noticing the weapon he was carrying but not saying anything about it. He proceeded to approach the fellow, or start to, but he walked off into the crowd and he frowned. A person who hated this much joviality? That was just an unfortunate thing, but nothing he knew he could do would change it.

Instead, he decided to wander over towards the crowd of people gathering around the singer and watch as well, standing behind a young half mermaid girl. Nice voice, interesting dance. Over all, a solid performance. As he listened, Jerus watched the singer call the young girl up to the stage and smiled, gently prodding her. "Go on lass, I'll personally make sure the crowd behaves."

"Y-yeah." Kest was surprised that Veragwen had remember his name. They had only met briefly once before. It was the day after he and his sister had arrived in Seles. Some might think that a man admiring a woman in uniform is a bit creepy, but he didn't care. She helped them settle in to life here.

For the next week, all Kest would talk about was Veragwen. Marmalade found it adorable and teased him every time he mentioned the guardswoman. Now he had a chance to talk to her in a social setting... and he was ruining his chance! A flustered young man stole her attention before he could ask if she would be off at all during the festival. Kest wondered if there was anything he could do to help, but decided to let Vera do her job. Instead, he looked back to make sure his sister was okay.

Everyone looked back into the crowd, at the mer-girl. They were either angry or disgusted. Marmalade looked around. Surely the entertainer didn't mean her. There must be some little girl behind her. Seeing no one, she looked back to the stage and pointed at herself with a quizzical expression. At first, she was going to decline, no sense in riling them into a mob. Plus she didn't know how to dance. Of all thing she learned, that wasn't one. A voice behind her told her to do it. Surely her subconscious wasn't so masochistic..?

Realizing it was a person and not her imagination, Mara felt like there was no backing out now. She walked forward and the crowd actually split to let her pass. Was this what it was like to have respect? A small swell of pride rose inside of her, but died once she reached the performer.
"I don't know how to dance.." she said quietly, feeling increasingly embarrassed. She looked out and saw Kest watching her. He shot her a questioning look, but smiled none the less.

"Yes. I-I should sit down." Richard replied. He was anxious to tell her his story, but it was only after he sat down that he realized how tired he actually was. He had been moving since his home had burned in the middle of the night. The fear of an assassin had carried him through the night, but, the moment he sat down to rest, his legs gave way beneath him, and he collapsed on to the bench. He took a moment to rest before speaking.

"Veragwen," he continued as quietly as possible, "My life may be in danger. Last night, my father was killed, and my home burned down. Worse still, someone may be trying to kill me." At this, his voice faltered, but he had already said what needed to be said. He remained silent as the singer's voice filled the air.

"Murasame, how are you enjoying the festival so far?" an elegantly dressed man asked the woman following behind him. The woman, who appeared to be at least half merfolk, replied something in a low voice. This caused the man to stop and sigh, waiting for her to stop beside him. Once she realized she was beside him, she attempted to back up, only to have his hand grab her shoulder. "How many times have I told you to stop doing that? Just because you are my maid, doesn't mean I see you as any less of a person than myself. So stand and walk beside me, enjoy the festival like everyone else." he said in a soft and kind voice. Everyone in Endiness knew who this man was, Armond Zeraltus the Third, he had been branded a traitor and framed for his family's murder, though nobody in Deningrad believed him to be innocent when he was confronted. So why was a wanted man walking about so freely in Serdio? Why wasn't he in hiding at Indels Castle in Bale? It was rather simple really, everyone in Serdio believed in the nobleman's innocence. Sure there were a few who disagreed, but for the most part, Serdio supported Armond's claim of innocence.

"And for Soa's sake, raise your voice, I'll never be able to hear you over all the commotion if you don't." he added with a smile. Murasame, looked up at the nobleman, his words reminded her exactly why she was so enamored with him; he was kind and caring, and took care of other people, even at great risk to himself. His compassion was beyond words, he often pushed her to be more firm in her beliefs, and to speak up more. If it were up to her at this moment, she would gladly marry this man...however, many people would look down on him if that happened. He had a reputation and a look to uphold, she was not about to be the one to bring it down. She would have to simply love Armond from a distance, such is her fate. "O-Of course, Ma-Master Armond, I-I'll try." she replied, speaking a little louder than before. Armond nodded before returning to his walk, his eyes landing on a familiar face he knew, the guardswoman Veragwen. She appeared to be preoccupied with several people, so he simply bowed his head in greeting as he passed her. His attention turned to the stage, where he saw a young woman get up on the stage with another entertainer. Curious, he stopped and decided to watch, it wasn't every day he got to see one of the merfolk dance, he wasn't going to pass this up. Murasame mentioned something about getting them drinks, Armond simply nodding, "A good idea, I'll be here." he said before she walked off.

Elayna smiled at Mara, "That's alright, my dear. Although, I think it will come easier to you than you realize...but that isn't entirely why I called you over. I just wanted to tell you that I think you are a beautiful, wonderful creature, and I hope you never let anyone tell you otherwise." she looked disappointedly at all the people that had looked disapprovingly at Mara, "Do you know this girl? What right do you have to judge her so? What has she done to you? Nothing, that's what..." she tsked and turned her attention back to the mer-girl, her pretty smile forming back on her face.

She offered Mara and elegant hand to help her on the stage, uninterested now in performing at the moment, "Would you mind if I asked your name?"

----

Veragwen gave Lord Armond a deep bow when she noticed him pass by. "My lord..." she smiled at him.

She stood quietly for a moment as she listened to Richard, a look of sadness washing over her lovely features, "I see....I don't know what to say, Richard, besides I'm sorry that happened. I do recall seeing smoke from far away, but I had no idea that was where you lived and by the time I would have arrived there wasn't much I could do about it. But rest assured you'll be safe with me, and I'll do the best I can to help you and figure out why that happened."

She looked to Kest, still looking sad. She gave him a handful of coins, and gave him a small smile, "Kest, would you mind getting some water and something to eat for Richard for me, please? He looks like he hasn't eaten since yesterday."

The crowd had parted earlier but he had not. As she strode pass him, Faeri admittedly glanced at her with a tinted curiosity. Some would think it was disinterest on his face but in all actuality, It was simply a combination of his dislike of anything human and interest in her mermaid half. Once she made it onto the stage and the singer had spoken; Faeri had found her stain.

Disappointment turned his gaze to the ground.

Everyone has a stain they try and hide. Everyone but him.

He turned to leave the crowd, pushing against the half admiring and half gloom-filled dotes. They must have felt guilty about their own prejudices. As he pushed through, some youth--he looked about the same age--grabbed his shoulder, halting his leave. Slacked-jaw and blue-eyed, the boy just let off an air of discontent.

"You not enjoying the show now that the beautiful girl has something to say about equality or something?"

Faeri ground his teeth at the contact. Another stain! he growled to himself.

Seconds went by and when he hadn't responded, the youth tightened his grip. "Aye! You hear me talking to you! Are ya ear-dead or something?"

"Don't ever touch me, filthy human" whispered Faeri, his hand reaching up to cripple the youth's own but missing by a momentary inch. The youth had snatched his hand away and an expression of caution had reddened his cheeks and widened his eyes. He held his wrist close to him as he stepped away. Without regard for his volume, Faeri continued on speaking,

"I have no interest in someone whose heart is dirtier than their mouth." He looked to the side at the stage than, specifically at the singer. "Creature... that is what she called her. Changing it afterwards doesn't matter. If you're not human, you're less-than in their eyes. Always." He started to leave again, unaware if anyone had heard him or not. Uncaring either.

Relief washed over Richard. With the captain of the Seles Guard on his side, he was finally able to relax just a little. "Thank you, Veragwen," he gushed, "Thank you! I owe you my life!"

It was here that he realized what Veragwen's words meant. Of course, if she was going to investigate, she would need a witness, and he was the only living witness besides the culprit himself. This wasn't something he could leave entirely up to the guard. They would still need his help. Worst of all, he might need to revisit the wreckage. The thought that he might have to see his father's charred corpse again sent a cold chill down his spine.

"Kest, would you mind getting some water and something to eat for Richard for me, please?" Veragwen's words woke him from his thoughts. The guard captain was speaking to a strange foreigner with a bright red face. "He looks like he hasn't eaten since yesterday."

"Oh!" Richard piped up, "That's not neces-"

His words were stopped short when he realized that he actually was hungry. In fact, he was starving. He was going to have to repay the foreigner later.

"I guess I could use something to eat. Kest, was it?" he said to the man, "Thank you. I'll be sure to repay you in the future."

Jericho stepped between the fellow and his way out, his eyes locking onto those of the man who'd been so disdainful. "Oh, and I suppose calling her human or mermaid is better? To tell her that one half or the other is better than another? Man, I've seen some jerks in my time, but you take the cake. Do yourself a favor and think before insulting anyone. Judge not lest you be judged and all that." He stepped aside, allowing the young man to leave while he stepped towards a pair of older men who looked to be plotting some kind of trouble. Still, he couldn't shake what he'd overheard from the other guy.

Once he'd made it clear to the other two that trouble wouldn't be appreciated by himself nor the guards, Jericho sat down on a nearby bench, leaning back as much as the sword on his back would allow and pulling his dagger free while peeling an apple he'd had in his pack since his last stop off in a town, two weeks ago. Interesting philosophy on that fellow's part. I don't view the young girl as less than a person because she's not full human. And I don't get all the anti-merperson hate around here. I always thought it was a fascinating culture myself, and the few full merpeople I've met in my travels were decent people, despite the greater populace's opinion of them. Meh, best not overthink it, lest I loose my smile.

Kest had been too busy watching his sister to hear much of what the boy had said to Veragwen. Mara came first until Endiness got over its disdain for any being that wasn't human. For the young woman on stage, who now seemed slightly familiar to him, to go out and say she believed in equality between all races... it was very brave. Not many people, famous or no, wanted it that way. Mara always had courage to spare, he knew she really had wanted to go up there and shake her tail with the best of them. The fiery personality she hid far to well would come out soon. He could feel it. Then things might get hairy. Just like how that young man had turned from the crowd just as Mara had gotten on stage. Was he a racist too? As an older brother, all he wanted to do was punch the kid in the face, but he restrained himself. He didn't want to look bad in front of his possible life companion.

The young man snapped back into reality when the guard he was trying to ask out earlier spoke his name.
"Yes, ma'am." he said, taking her coin. Kest went off in search of food. While today's festival was mostly comprised of spicy foods, he was certain there was a something the frightened boy could eat. He went from stall to stall, checking each and every food on display. He came across a tasty ale, but as the boy was young, Vera was on duty, and Mara couldn't drink, he would be on his own. He was sad to learn they were only in town for the one day.

The stall with the ale pointed out someone that sold water and mild meats. Veragwen had only given him enough money to get the kid something to eat and drink, but he decided that a guard would probably need something too. He ended up using his own money and bought food and drink for Vera, Mara, and himself. Kest hurried back over to the shrine where everyone waited, his arms full of food and water.
"I brought enough for everyone!"



Mara looked at the singer, a spark of mischief growing her eyes as she took the woman's hand. Not because she planned anything. No, this was her way of telling the woman beside her that she had no idea how much crap the half-mer doesn't put up with. It was kind of funny. She smiled,
"Thank you," she started, "my name is Mara. What is yours?" Once on stage, she looked out at the gathering. One of them had given the kind dancer a foul look. She wondered why as he made his way to the back of the pack. She decided to focus on her new companion.

Once she snapped back to general populous, there was visible surprise from the crowd. Most humans thought the merpeople were nothing but fish. A union with one was like mating with a beast, their children not capable of speech. It was just trash spouted by religious fanatics and jealous wives. Mara found it quite humorous. "If you show me some of your moves, I will do my best to learn the steps."

Armond heard the man's racist remarks and spotted him attempting to leave, only to be met by the noble once he was free of the crowd, "You think yourself better than the rest of us, boy? Have you forgotten what the Winglys did to us? You are in no position to be disrespecting other races! That woman up there has more courage than you'll ever have in a single finger, so instead of judging her, you should perhaps watch and learn from her example. Otherwise, you can leave." he said loudly. It was clear Armond was angry, and those in the crowd were shocked to hear him speak the way he did to the boy, it was obvious they had never seen him so upset before. Several townspeople tried to calm him, telling him the boy wasn't worth the effort and that he should just leave him be. Armond gave the boy a dirty look before walking past him, "The only filth here, is you." he added in a whisper as he passed. He moved closer to the front of the stage, looking up at the girl, just catching her name at that moment. Mara. What a beautiful name. I'll be sure to remember it. he thought to himself.

---

Murasame had gone off in search of drinks for herself and Lord Armond, eventually coming to a stall she had seen a boy leave from, he apparently was carrying a lot of food and drink. She dismissed the image and ordered the drinks, paying for them and starting to make her way back. As she walked, she got dirty looks from people she passed, though she ignored them, like she usually did. It was like this everywhere she went, whether she was with Armond or not, people always gave her looks of disapproval. I suppose being half Mermaid and half Wingly doesn't help, especially when one half of my genes is responsible for so much tragedy. she thought. Due to this, she wasn't aware she had stumbled into a private meeting of mer-haters, each of them looking at her. "Lookie here fellas, we've caught ourselves a fishy, a lost one too!" one of them said. Murasame froze in place, she didn't like where this was going, "E-excuse me..." she said in a small voice, attempting to get by them. They only stood in place, "Did you say something, fishy?" one taunted. Murasame stepped back, she was clearly afraid of what might happen to her if no one stopped these men. She looked around her, the people passing by did nothing, they acted as if nothing was happening. However, unknown to the group, one passerby had decided to head straight to Veragwen. "Lady Vera, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I think there's a young lady in distress down that way." the man said, pointing in the direction he had come from.

She smiled at Mara, noticing the little twinkle in her eye, "It's nice to meet you, Mara! My name is Elayna. And judging by that look in your eye, I think I'd rather just see you get your groove on and I'll follow your lead instead!" she giggled. Elayna looked over to her little band that played music for her, "Why don't we give my friend here a fun little tune she can dance to?"

----

Veragwen shook her head, "You owe me nothing, my friend. But, do you really have no idea at all why it happened, though? I don't think brigands or bandits would bother to burn a place down. It seems very strange.... They didn't say anything at all?" she asked, frowning and rubbing her chin.

She smiled as Kest returned to them, "Oh, why thank you. That was very kind of you, Kest." she reached to take some for herself when a civilian came up to her. Vera sighed, "Why is all this happenening now? Hold on. I'll only be a moment." she said quickly, grabbing her sword and shield before racing off towards the direction they had pointed in. Vera was surprisingly quick. She soon found the commotion and realized immediately what was going on.

She skidded to a stop next to Murasame, "I suggest you all leave this girl alone unless you want to spend some time in a dungeon for awhile...." Vera half wished they'd underestimate her and try to start a fight, she'd been wanting to get some practice in, but she supposed that'd be somewhat reckless.

Faeri was unamused to say the least by the red-haired youth, in fact if anything it only disappointed him. The humans tended to ignore what they felt was unjust, even if the words had potential meaning to it. Instead of looking berated, Faeri glanced towards the guy with annoyance before utterly ignoring his words and striding on.

He sighed with a hint of sadness in his breath. He had his own way of seeing things and that would be enough. Besides, he didn't need any more attention drawn to him did he already had. Allowing his anger to get the best of him was a mistake. One that he would be sure not to prvent next time. As he neared the back of the crowd, a princely man had approached him; seething anger was clear on his face.

Faeri openly sighed.

"How many of you will crawl from your holes to gang up on me I wonder? Will another one come after you?"

He smiled to himself though it would probably be in the middle of the man's self-righteous speech. Just as before, Faeri would attempt to ignore it, only... something had rung clearly in his ear. A question that beckoned to be answered. Had he addressed him as a Wingly? By this time the man had begun to make his way to the front of the crowd. Faeri looked over his shoulder at the noble, his eyes shooting fearful daggers at his back.

"How does he know? he asked himself. "My hair is raven black, no one should know, especially not this far out!"

A tsk escaped him as he hurried from the crowd in haste. If that man had known, surely others could tell too. He had to get somewhere private to check himself.