Crocus was a city that Hawke had spent less time in than others. Simply because of the bad blood that ran in the city, having been home to a lot of tragic events. The fall of a kingdom, the rise and fall of the most notorious dark guild of the recent age so far... Because of it all people were decidedly less generous with the donations after he healed people. It made it hard to stay long, as he often would go hungry if he didn't come to town with money to begin with.
Thankfully, he had. And it hadn't been long before he'd found his way into the home of a single mother and a little girl. Due to the damage the illness had done though, he was having to make multiple trips. Which, he didn't mind. She was a sweetheart. And her mother had some wonderful recipes. He knocked on the door and was let in right away.
"Mister Hawke!" A small, frail looking girl with long black hair rushed up and wrapped her arms around his waist. He gently placed his hand on her head and smiled down at her. "You came back again!"
"How have you been feeling?" He asked her as she clung to him. The question made her let go and look up at him.
"I feel a lot better!" She beamed up happily at him. "It hurt to breath before you came here Mister Hawke. But now I feel better! I even run around and play with the others now!"
"That's good!" Hawke said standing up straight. "Tell you what, how about I get us some chocolate or something so you have something to snack on while I work?"
"Sure!" The girl beamed happily and ran over to her mother.
"I'll be back in a few minutes then," Hawke said before turning back to the door. He stepped out and closed it. He afforded himself a moment and closed his eyes while he leaned on the door. There was a a content smile on his face as he stood there...
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 26, 2015 19:53:03 GMT
Pyrrha had been taking a few days off in the city to take in the sights, and frankly, she was fascinated by the giant city and how advanced it was. It was nothing like her home, which was a lot less advanced in a lot of ways. She'd been wandering the town and exploring anywhere that caught her mind - including the alleyway she was currently in. She was wearing a white tank top and a baby blue blouse that was only buttoned over her chest, as well as a black set of shorts and some sneakers. She had a single pigtail on the left side of her head instead of her usual two.
"So I was thinking maybe tomorrow we should pay this Grand City a visit like Raz suggested," Pyrrha decided thoughtfully as she stepped over a puddle. It had been raining recently, and the alleys were still damp. Bloo didn't answer; he had nothing to contribute to the idea and just kept his eyes closed like he was catnapping on her shoulder. His eyes opened suddenly and he let out a small yip of warning, causing Pyrrha to pause as she started to go past the alley Hawke was standing in.
"What's he doing here?!" Pyrrha ducked behind the wall, wide-eyed as she glanced at Bloo. Bloo made a small, whisper-like chirp in response, along with a little drake shrug. "I swear he's following me or something!" Pyrrha sighed. If she waited here maybe he would go away. Yeah, that's what she would do. Then she wouldn't have to deal with his smug face. Or at least, that was her plan before she started to peek back around and slipped, stumbling into the middle of the alleyway. She stood there, wide eyed in surprise for a moment. "Oh, uh, fancy meeting you here," she chuckled nervously, looking more surprised than anything.
Hawke let out a sigh as he pushed himself off the door. He would see her healed up and living life. And then when he was an old man, he and that girl would share a drink and look back on fond memories. Or something like that anyway. No sooner than he was on his feet than the sound of someone stumbling into the alley got his attention. He snapped into a ready stance, with his legs bent and his arms up. Though his hands were loose instead of fists.
"...Fancy that," he parroted as he relaxed and let out a breath. It was just Pyrrha and her pet lizard thing Bloo. He put a hand over his chest and took a deep breath to calm himself down. "You shouldn't give a guy a heart attack like that. It's just generally mean and not needed."
"So what brings you to the slums of Crocus?" He asked sounding much less sarcastic than their parting before. He had a more genuine look about him, including the small smile that pulled at his lips. He was in a good mood and not even the brat and her companion would bring it down. "Surely it wasn't just site seeing. There's much better places. Like the old castle where they old dynasty used to live."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 5:08:02 GMT
"No no... sight seeing is pretty much-" Pyrrha cut off, looking cross for a moment. "What about you? You weren't following me or something were you?!" Bloo appeared from around the corner, flapping over to Pyrrha's shoulder as normal. He let out a chirp as if he were answering her for Hawke.
Pyrrha, for her part, ignored the chirp. "And what do you mean mean? A girl can stumble you know!" She had nearly decided that she was being followed, but common sense said probably not. Not unless he was a not so secret admirer or something. Pyrrha figured that might be a possibility.
Bloo flew over and landed squarely on the top of Hawke's head, sniffing around as he climbed around him. He'd been rather curious about people of late. "Whatever, whether you're following me or not, here we are again," she decided as she placed her hands on her hips. She looked a lot more normal in her normal people clothes, though possibly even younger than she normally looked. "You're not still mad at me for last time, are you?" Her question didn't sound apologetic so much as sounding like he shouldn't be.
"Why would I follow you?" He asked looking at her in confusion. What was going on in that head of hers?! They run into each other once and suddenly he's stalking her?! The hell! "I travel from city to city for my work. I'd heard a kid was sick here, so I was taking care of her. I had zero idea where you were going or what you were really up to! For all I knew, you were secretly some kind of super criminal and I wouldn't have known."
"Yes, here-" He was cut off as Bloo landed on his head. Bloo was small, but even small creatures still had weight. So Hawke was forced to bow his head slightly to accommodate the sudden change of weight. Great, the brat showed up, and now he smelled like something interesting to the lizard thing. She needed like, a leash or something for Bloo... Sighing, he continued. "We are."
He disregarded the fact that it was an alleyway and someone moving really fast in an alleyway was an immediate danger red flag in his, or any sane person's mind. Or the fact that he hadn't heard footsteps, Which meant she'd been watching him. Yeah, totally ignoring that for the time being. "And no I'm not mad."
"I don't think I could be mad right now even if I wanted to be," He continued with a shrug. He started walking towards her at an angle that suggested he was going to walk around her. "In fact, I was just on my way to get some chocolate. And now that I've stated where I'm going, if we run into each other again... I can't be following you. Because I have my own destination. If you want to tag along though, I don't mind."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 6:01:02 GMT
It was hard to be mad when chocolate was involved. Pyrrha was quite the romantic in her own head, and she could think of very few scenarios that she'd be mad at someone after giving her chocolates. Still, she wasn't the one involved with said chocolates. "Oh, well, taking care of people is good..." she deflated a bit. She might have been almost disappointed, but it was more because his story checked out with his abilities and stuff. "And I'm not some criminal! I mean, sometimes I have to sneak around and stuff but I would never take anything that wasn't already mine or Lady Belfyire's, you know!"
Pyrrha adjusted her outer shirt a bit as she stood up a little straighter; not that it was that much taller. She was a few inches on the short side, after all. After a moment, Bloo took off again and landed on his partner's shoulder, satisfied in his curiosity. "Fine, I'll go with you, but mostly because now I want chocolate." And not because she was a little lonely after so long away from her family. Nope. She was a big girl and she was prepared to only have Bloo for as long as it took to find the egg that was stolen from her Mistress. "Besides it's not like I actually thought you were stalking me. It's just that this city is so big it's almost more likely than just randomly running into you, Mr. Blondie."
"Well you certainly weren't joking when you made the claim before," Hawke said rubbing the top of his head where Bloo had been. So help him if that thing had decided to empty it's bowels on his head... He'd be dining on Roast of Bloo. Or Bloo soup. But thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case.
"Well there'll be plenty of chocolate where I'm going," He said with a nod as the smile came back. He took the lead, since he kind of knew where he was going. Kind of. Crocus was big and he didn't know it as well as others. But if they got a little turned around in the city he supposed it wouldn't be too bad.
"So who's this Lady BelFyre?" Hawke asked as he placed one hand in his pocket. The other stayed at his side. His head was turned so he could look at Pyrrha as he talked. After all, it was only polite to pay attention to whom you were talking to. He did keep glancing back ahead of him so he didn't walk into anything or anyone though... "Someone pretty important if you have a prefix for her name at least."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 6:17:53 GMT
"What, did I not explain it before?" No, Pyrrha supposed she hadn't had a chance between the being propositioned or the thugs or the arguing afterword. He hadn't given her much of a chance to do anything, really. "Lady Belfyire is my dragon. Or well, I guess I'm more her human," she tried to explain. No, people in Fiore didn't understand. She'd have to try something else. "Some places have kings or queens or your weird council thingy, but Lady Belfyire is our queen sort of. My family is basically nobility that serves under that queen and does as she requires in exchange for her help and protection."
She swore of Hawke found this as unreasonable as that Tracen guy he'd be having to heal his own face in a moment. "Me and the other girls in my family are Dracoknights. We have..." The girl's one odd piece of clothing was a sort of long glove-like thing without fingers that went about a fourth of the way up her arm. She rolled it up a bit to reveal the dragon-shaped Tattoo. "They're a little closer to birthmarks than tattoos," she was getting better at this explaining, if she did say so herself! "And it disrupts any magic we touch with our left hands, no matter what it is. Pretty cool, huh?"
"So..." Hawke continued walking, but paid much less attention to what was in front of him. There was a frown on his face, but he didn't carry the same disapproving tone to it that Tracen had. He repeated what she said as he tried to wrap his mind around it. "You serve a dragon. Which is something like Bloo, but bigger and much more powerful."
"And you gain the power to negate magic by being her servant?" He asked with a small nod. Then the frown deepened. "No, I guess servant doesn't exactly do your relationship with her justice... Calling you her human made quite a bit of sense. So then there's an important reason you're out here. I doubt she would send what seems the equivalent of a knight out alone if it weren't."
"And this task must be something that's going to take awhile," He continued listing off his observations. Which were largely on the spot now that he knew a little more about her. "That's why you were sent with so much money, and why you haven't gone back yet. Interesting..."
"But you know," He said thoughtfully for a moment. "If she sent you, and not someone else from your family who might be more experienced or stronger... then it means she has a lot of faith in you and your abilities. A knight from any country could ask for little more."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 6:40:51 GMT
Pyrrha nodded, her own grin growing. "Maybe you aren't *always* annoying after all," she meant it as a compliment. Honest. Pyrrha rolled the sleeve glove thing back down to cover her mark and sped up a bit so as not to be following quite so far behind. "Bloo and Lady Belfyire are in the same species kind of like us and monkeys," Pyrrha reasoned "Only Bloo is a lot smarter than a monkey." Bloo nodded with a yip as he turned and watched the things the three of them were passing by. "Usually anyway." That one earned her getting a quick ponytail tug using his fangs - enough to cause her a quick, sharp but relatively minor pain. "Ow! I was joking Geeze!"
"But uh, I suppose you have the right of it, and no I'm not elaborating more. I've only told one person and only for a very specific reason," she insisted, crossing her arms. "She took a liking to me when I was little. I don't really know why other than I was the only girl with enough guts to try and sneak in and see her before she summoned me, and after that we kind of... bonded better than most humans and dragons do. She didn't punish me or anything like a lot of people thought she would, including my cousin, Sacha."
"Well that saves me the trouble of asking," Hawke said after chuckling. It seemed almost like Bloo and Pyrrha were siblings. He had to shrug off fonder memories before he became homesick. Again. He really didn't want to have to deal with that feeling again for awhile. It was always such a struggle for him when it reared it's ugly head.
"You know..." He began trying to think of good words that wouldn't accidentally be seen as attacks against Belfyre. Which was hard considering Pyrrha was a shining example of assumptions at work. In his experience at least. "Maybe... Lady Belfyre was just lonely. I mean... I don't know much about dragons but I hear they live for a really long time."
"And being in her position, I doubt she could just ask for people to be her friend," Hawke shrugged slightly. "It's hard to ask people who devote that much of themselves to you to be your friend. Rules, codes of conduct, traditions... they all end up blinding people. And it wouldn't truly be a friendship unless it came from the heart of someone who hadn't been drilled into all that."
"Of course..." Hawke admitted with slight sigh. "I could be completely wrong. I know nothing besides her name and that she's a dragon."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 7:23:29 GMT
Lonely. Yeah, that was a word for it. She was a mother who's baby had been stolen, and only she and her immediate family actually knew that. Well, and Razhiel. Pyrrha didn't quite trust Hawke enough to explain all that. It was a personal thing to Belfyire, after all. "Dragons don't age after they become fully grown for some reason, so they never die of old age, only mistakes or the really rare disease from what I've gathered. And dragons are immune to most diseases too. I think. She's never been sick and dragons aren't good at explaining themselves to humans."
Pyrrha shrugged, her self-imposed dislike of Hawke currently forgotten. She didn't know if he was right or wrong. Honestly if he was right it was both sad and totally romantic in a platonic dragon/human kind of way. Did that even make sense? It did to Pyrrha though there was no way she could explain it. "You knoooow..." Pyrrha placed her hands behind her back, hooking them together idly. "I keep having to explain myself and what I do to people, but you're all quite different to the way I see things too, you know. You should ever explain things to a dracoknight like myself. Specifically myself. Like I dunno. I dun understand you Fiorians. A lot of you just come off as way self-centered and jerks in my experience."
"Interesting..." Hawke trailed off. He didn't say it, but he could all but confirm part of Belfyre's choice was one of loneliness. Based on what she said, she had family that was stronger than her. And probably more streetwise. So why send an inferior choice for an important task? Trust. Whatever the task was... it was so important that she couldn't trust more able bodied people with the truth of it. It was something he'd seen his dad do a couple of times...
"You have been doing all the answering," Hawke admitted, a slight blush of embarrassment crossing his face. He wasn't one to really talk about himself unless poked about it. So he hadn't really thought of the exchange of information. At least she was being... normal right now. He enjoyed her company when she was like this. Or at least for right then he was.
"Fiore has a lot of pride behind it's history," Hawke shrugged slightly. "We've always had the most powerful magic in the world here. We have more wizards born than anywhere else. And our control of magic, and it's incorporation into both our lives and our battles leaves a lot of people with a puffed up ego."
"As with anything that's a competition... If you win a lot it's easy for it to go to your head. Fiore did beat Valland and technically led to it's downfall. A lot of people are running with that win," Hawke explained with a nod. "Not that I'm excusing it any. I wanted nothing to do with being stronger... hence why I travel the land as a doctor. Kind of anyway."
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Sept 27, 2015 7:43:28 GMT
Pyrrha nodded and sighed. "I met a guy who said I was afraid to live on my own if I was willing to follow a dragon." Her voice grew a little more upset, on the angry side, as she continued. "That jerk just didn't understand. He said he'd have rather been wiped out like my family would have been before we made our deal with her..." Her next words were a lot closer to her previous emotional outbursts, just not directed at Hawke. "He was such a stupid boy! Ugh! I just... I don't even know! It's not like we've suffered for it or anything! And who cares if one dragon or a family of humans does all the ruling stuff anyway?!"
Her fists had balled up and curled outward a bit. She really wanted to find that Tracen guy and just kick his butt and let him know exactly what she thought of his stupid opinions. "Ugh. Anyway, I haven't had an extended conversation with anyone in Fiore that hasn't ended in them looking down on me or something and it's really super frustrating, you know? I'm fifteen. I get that I'm not an adult to people here but who cares? A dragon trusts me what does it matter what some stupid number about my age means?"
"Calm down, he's not here," Hawke tried to soothe the suddenly angry Pyrrha. He didn't know how Bloo did it. He doubted he'd be able to keep up with that kind of temper. Happy one moment, on the verge of beating someone to death the next. "He's not entirely wrong, but he's not entirely right either. If in that position, he can make that choice. He's wrong to tell you that you were wrong for what your predecessors did to ensure they're loved ones made it."
"It's kind of funny..." Hawke trailed off as he shrugged. Despite more of the sarcastic demeanor returning, he sounded as serious as he had been the entire time. His gaze was up in the sky as he spoke. "I was once told by a... well respected man that age was a good way to judge the wisdom of another. If they haven't had time to experience life, then they don't have the wisdom or knowledge to be left in charge of even themselves."
"But its been the people like you who have always stepped up when things go bad," He turned his eyes back to Pyrrha. There was a thoughtful look on his face as he continued. "I've spent the last year traveling and meeting all kinds of people. I've patched up quite a few broken bodies but... I've gotten to see a lot too."
"Not just me though," He continued with a shrug. "Some of Fiore's greatest warriors right now were out there traveling and fighting at fifteen. If the stories are true. So I think that well respected man was wrong. If we're old enough to experience life... we're old enough to take charge and responsibility of it too."
