“Well it is a pleasure to meet you Kuroi and I suppose it’s a good thing I’m a quick learner!” Elsea giggled as they moved to the music. She’d merely just met this man, but she was quite enjoying his company so far. He seemed sweet and he had yet to mention recognizing her at all which she figured was good.
It took a few moments, but soon she fell into the rhythm of the dance and the nerves of messing up began to fade. Kuroi’s next question, however, had nerves hitting her once more. What was she to tell him about herself? For a brief moment she glanced over to Risa and Kyran, debating on taking a risk or not. Kyran definitely wouldn’t be happy if he knew what she was considering.
Oh fuck it… She thought to herself as she made a decision.
“Well if you want to know more about me I suppose it’s only fair to let you know that I’m apparently dangerous. I mean my face was all over the sky a few days ago.” It was a bold move, but she’d already been getting stares and was in danger no matter what. Why not use this to her advantage and see how her dance partner would react?
Kuroi took a few moments to ponder as this woman, presumably a human, outright revealed herself to him. Did he give off an aura that could be trusted? Or perhaps she thought she could trust a handsome buck with manners (something which Kuroi would advise against; looks can be deceiving). He looked into her eyes, examining her in what must have been nerve wracking silence to her as his ears twitched to and fro. After two minutes went by, he tilted his head at her and began to respond,
“Oh? How interesting. I, myself, was declared as an assassin not too long ago. Must have been a mistake, I’m sure, or else I wouldn’t be freely presenting myself at the ball. I’m sure there’ll be an attempted arrest on me sooner or later if that damned governor spots me.” He says in an irritated tone.
He had decided to take initiative and freely talk about his rather recent experience. Although it may have been a leap of faith, he was already strutting around freely as to prove his innocence. After all, he was sure that if another duel broke out between him and Terneus, he was certain that he would be cheered if he bested him. By enough of the right people, anyway.
The silence that followed her statement was unnerving, but Elsea decided she didn’t have much more to lose. She could only pray that her bold actions would help her find allies for her friends. If this man killed her then so be it, at least she wasn’t being burnt at the stake. There was the slim chance he wouldn’t, however. At least not in this large of a crowd where it surely wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Finally he spoke and realization dawned on her, her eyes widening as she remembered seeing his face up in the sky shortly after theirs. How intriguing, but it could also be a good sign. If the authorities of this land deemed him a public enemy then perhaps he’d be more willing to join their cause.
“Oh it must be a mistake for sure, just like it was a mistake declaring that I was dangerous. I mean do I look all that dangerous to you?” She asked with a bit of a smirk, though it wasn’t entirely a lie. The most dangerous thing about her was her magic and at the moment she couldn’t even feel that coursing through her body like normal. She really needed to work more on defending herself in case there was a time that she couldn’t use it and she was in danger.
“I suppose we’ll both be in trouble if either of us are caught by the wrong people. Maybe we should help each other out and keep each other safe?” She gave him a grin before leaning in closer to him to whisper in his ear.
“After the ball you should follow the coast up northwest from Roshmi. You’ll find a small unnoticed port town there. There will be a group of us meeting there who wish to see justice restored in this world and names of those unjustly accused restored. We’d love it if you met us there and passed the message on to any allies you know of.” She’d made a decision, knowing that it may have been a stupid decision, but she didn’t care. If this man was unjustly accused like he said he was then hopefully they could help him. She wanted to help him, knowing what it was like to be unjustly accused.
Kuroi almost instantly responded to her words,
“You are not the first to present me with such an offer. I am afraid my answer is I don’t know. Just by doing so much as interacting with another human, I’ve already lost my honor and been unjustly accused by that damned governor. Were it not for the lawful and political repercussions, I would have killed him...I should have killed him…” growled the vulpine, his ears suddenly going stiff.
The young fox already knew that he was talking to a human the very moment she had revealed to him her plans. Although he showed no hostility, he was certainly angry.
“I don’t want to ruin my life any further, I’m already branded a criminal by my own city...the same city I created my fame in!” He snarled. Despite his rather angry tone, Kuroi kept in rhythm with the music and occasionally spun his partner. He was more tense, however.
Kuroi was well aware that it was not the humans’ fault that they were here, nor that they (in his experience thus far) meant any evil. All he knew was that he hated Terneus, he never should have gotten involved with any human, and that these humans could further ruin his life. Convincing this man would be rather difficult indeed.
Elsea’s heart sank as Kuroi responded, quite obviously upset and angry, but she remained silent until he seemed to be done. The music and dance were coming to an end and she knew there wasn’t going to be much else she could say, but she had to say something. She couldn’t just leave it like this, knowing that she’d upset this man who’d been quite kind to her.
“Kuroi I am truly sorry, I did not mean to upset you in any way. It sounds as if you’ve been through far too much already and perhaps thanks to the hands of my kind. If joining us is going to make matters worse for you then don’t do it, I don’t want to be the reason things worsen for you.” She gave him an apologetic look before glancing at the ground ashamed.
“Unfortunately I too understand to be unjustly accused of something. Where I came from I was accused of being something I wasn’t, imprisoned, starved, and I was being dragged to be burned at the stake when I got brought here. Avalia is my chance to start over, but I want to make this world safe for myself and those in it that have also faced unjust acts like yourself.” The music came to the end and Elsea was still staring at the ground for a moment. She knew it was time to move on, but she had one last thing she wanted to say to this man. As she looked back up at him she moved to take one last bold action, throwing her arms around him in a hug.
“Thank you for being kind to me from the start Kuroi. Although I don’t know your full story, I will remember your name and I will remember you. If there is any way I can help you restore your honor then please let me. I truly believe in my heart that you deserve that.” She let go from hugging him and backed up, giving him one last kind smile.
“It really was an honor to meet you and I hope our paths will cross again someday in a better world.” And with that she turned to walk away.
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