Raven stepped into Dawn Town and paused. A small bag was slung over his shoulder, only partially covering the dragon wing style scales on the back. Though his week long trip from Magnolia was readily apparent. He seemed to be generating dust, though he didn't seem to care. Pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose he looked around. Draconian eyes hidden behind black tinted lenses took in the sights, and his enhanced nose struggled to sift out all the dust.
In his minds eye the old Dawn Town appeared before him, from ten years prior. It was larger now, and there were more people. The weight of the time suddenly pressed down on him, and a small smile cracked his otherwise stoic face. It was sad in a way, though his head insisted it was a good thing. So he stepped into town, black boots crunching random bits of dirt and gravel as he moved.
Finally, he found an area with a patch of grass and sat down. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander as the occasional cloud started to blow in. He didn't seem to be paying attention to his surroundings and, by his positioning, he didn't seem to be expecting visitors. For all intents and purposes, he looked as though he was napping. Though that was far from the truth.
A girl with a tan-sheathed katana clutched in her right hand strode quickly through the city, her leather penny loafers becoming caked with the dust swirling around from others walking by. Her footsteps ceased in the middle of the road as she turned to survey the buildings, searching for a particular one. As Rena's eyes drifted, she noticed that several people were milling around and seemed to have taken notice of her. Rena stared suspiciously at them, noting that two seemed to be whispering and leaving another out.
Humans... thought the girl wearily. Always seeming to be plotting something, and if not, they were completely naive and innocent and would eventually be stabbed in the back. A nasty wake up call was about to be given to that girl, Rena decided, as she watched a violet-eyed female say something to one of the gossiping two, her expression obviously expecting amusement, since it was poised to laugh. But to Rena's confusion, the spoken-to girl turned immediately away from the second gossiper and bowed, saying something that seemed to resemble an apology. Shaking her head, Rena stepped farther away and continued walking. Maybe some humans weren't completely corrupt.
Spying a patch of grass a few meters away, barely peeking around the corner of a building, Rena hurried over and threw her katana a little bit away from where she was, not bothering to look. Then she plopped down and looked around her. The shoppe didn't seem to be anywhere close that she could see, despite the fact that the girl had followed the directions perfectly. Slipping her pink satchel off of her arm, Rena rifled through the contents, looking for a map. Hmm... I can't find it, the girl thought, frowning in dismay to herself. She reached over absentmindedly to grab her katana, her head still buried in her satchel. Instead of grasping smooth leather, her hand patted the arm of someone else, and the girl leaped away as soon as the thought processed in her mind.
Twisting her head to look to her side, Rena spied a young man with sunglasses perched on his nose, his eyes apparently closed and his body set in a restful position. The girl turned away. She had no desire to disturb someone that seemed to be peacefully napping, and she wasn't one to initiate a conversation with a stranger, anyhow.
Images off past mistakes played out in his head as he sat there. Foes vanquished, comrades and family that had passed. He found himself asking if he could have done things differently. The painful part of that was he could see what he could have done differently. What he should have done differently. Of course, it was too late to go back and fix any of it.
His train of thought was interrupted when a hand was placed at his sleeve. He opened one eye to see a younger girl with a katana jumping to her feet in surprise. She must have tried to sit at a side of the tree he'd been sitting and surprised herself when she found out he'd been there. For a first time meeting someone, circumstances had definitely been worse.
"There's room you know," Raven said, his face shifting into a more aloof grin. His tone carried no anger or annoyance, and his body language stayed relaxed. He was in no danger, he had no reason to act like he was. He covered his mouth as he yawned and pushed himself to his feet slowly. "And I suppose I wouldn't mind some company."
Rena frowned a tiny bit, her face still turned in the opposite direction, but her movement had stopped. So the stranger hadn't been napping, and was just faking the entire time? Obviously, he was just like everyone else, and only said something when others wouldn't. And this guy was trying to act friendly and all, too. Even if he didn't mind others sitting around near him, she certainly didn't want to converse with a complete stranger! But it would be no good purposefully coming off as completely rude, despite the fact that Rena predicted she would either way.
"Thank you for pointing that out. I already noticed when I sat down. Unfortunately, I seem to be lost at the moment and don't have time to waste sitting around here. I have to be at..." The girl drifted off. Actually, she had arrived plenty early, with over four hours to spare since she had planned to look around for a little bit and also do some sight seeing. But there was no need for this stranger to know her schedule.
Rena paused in her thoughts and addressed the second part of the person's sentence. "I'm glad you don't mind company, as there seems to be several people around here, after all. I'm sure one of them will sit over here after a little bit?" The second of her sentences came out more like a question, and Rena mentally frowned again. Then she realized something-- she was now staring at the stranger; when had she turned around? Geez, she was becoming more and more absentminded every day. Either way, she wouldn't introduce herself to this guy. Rena really had no obligation to, since all she was trying to do was not be completely rude, not make friends.
"You sound uncertain," Raven let the grin grow slightly and shrugged. She shifted to look at him, and he finally got a good look at her face. She had what appeared to be a smooth face, though it was decidedly colder looking than someone her age should look. He decided not to press on that though and instead looked around. The people milling by seemed to be openly avoiding them. Though the fact that one of them looked armed probably didn't help.
"I wonder how much Dawn City has changed," He said changing the subject slightly. He reached around to the side of the tree he'd hidden his sword and fixed it back to his waist and then slung his bag over his shoulder. He turned back to her, still smiling slightly. He wondered just how difficult she'd decide to be. He could sense she had magic, and since she had a weapon she was probably decently strong. For a teenage human at any rate.
"If you will not sit here I'll simply tag along with you," Raven shrugged before brushing some dust off of his coat. It didn't seem to help much, but it was still something. "Who knows, maybe together we'll find wherever you're supposed to be."
Rena gave in to her annoyance and finally snarled. This strange person obviously was in no mood to take her hints that she was leaving now. Obviously, by his latest statement, he had understood them perfectly but had no desire to comply with her preferences. That was just too bad, because she had not really been in the mood for conversation before and was feeling the complete opposite now. This guy was clearly stating that he wouldn't just leave her be even if she walked away right at this moment. Well, since words were quite obviously futile, she would try something else.
The girl suddenly recalled how the stranger had dusted off his coat before and wrinkled her nose. That thing seemed to be utterly caked with dust and overall filth... Honestly, a single washing wouldn't scratch the surface. But Rena had an idea of what might, and the girl abruptly walked a few paces away from the stranger, deciding that he wouldn't follow yet since she hadn't really left yet. Once the girl had enough open space surrounding her, she assumed a dancing stance and muttered a few words about obstinate strangers before launching into a dance routine.
As Rena twirled, small bursts of fire flickered at her fingertips. Well, she might have been a D Rank Mage, but that was only a title given by the old Mermaid Heel. Considering the fact that another of her spells could burn a building to the ground in less than a minute, Rena didn't have doubts about her magical ability. And although this stranger seemed to be a mage, given the strange mark on his back- were those wings?- the girl didn't care at this point.
Even if he could put the fire out...well, some of the dust would be eliminated. Smoke was much better than dust, in any case. And so, with that thought in mind, Rena gave one last twirl and sent a dancing white flame of Swanfire at the stranger's coat sleeve. This one wouldn't burn the man even if he tried to let it, so there was no need for concern here.
The snarl didn't bother Raven at all. He'd tried to be nice, but she was being difficult. If anything the snarl encouraged the bored Dragon Slayer. He fully intended to follow her around for a bit now. To get that angry at an offer like that, that fast... She might cause trouble. However, he didn't move when she moved at first. Instead he opted to watch her.
"Oh?" The scent of magic caught his nose as soon as she struck her first dancing stance. He stood there watching her, watching as she wove her magic into the dance. That was a very interesting way of using fire magic, he had to admit. By training the body to move like that, she could potentially sling fire from any movement, opening up attack angles that were normally not commonly exploitable.
That's when the fire raced at him. He raised his arms to block, but realized after the impact that it was meant for his coat. Why the coat?! The one article on his person that he cared about besides the sunglasses! He immediately started patting out his sleeves so they didn't burn through. Outside that though he didn't make any aggressive movements. Despite the show of magic, Raven didn't sound all that serious. "You know... That's kinda mean. I'm going to be haunted now because you scuffed up the jacket."
Rena simply watched as the stranger patted out her Swanfire. Well, she probably should have gone with the full version, since this was like an ordinary fire, but at least it had eliminated a bit of the dust, and a faint smell of smoke filled the air, too. He was no ordinary stranger, obviously, as he had seemed to detect magic when she started dancing, and even commented on it too.
And he had some sort of personality defect that wouldn't allow him to get upset. Exasperated, Rena finally conceded a bit. "Well, maybe I'm not a very nice person after all. And I seriously doubt that you'll be haunted...Mm... anyways, my name is Krisa. Who are you, what is your name, and what are you doing, sitting around here in a place like this? There's nothing to sight see nearby here." He would most definitely get out of that question with something else, she was sure.
Ugh, this annoyingly relaxed guy was getting on her nerves. The girl shifted her weight from side to side, her feet twisting around each other. Rena was doing the prying now, which was something she ordinarily didn't feel comfortable with. But since there seemed to be no way to get the idiotically laid-back stranger to leave, she had no choice, really.
Finally a name! Though at the cost of part of his coat. While she was introducing herself he inspected his coat closely and found that it was mostly just a little singed. He'd hammed it up a little, but it was better than getting mad. So he turned his attention back to the girl who introduced herself as Krisa and asked him a bunch of questions. She wanted his name, though part of him didn't want to give it right away. A lot of people knew his name...
"Raven," He finally answered though he brought back the aloof grin. He folded his arms against his chest and looked straight at her and gave his usual kind of answer. Something vague, but substantial enough to be an answer. Hopefully she didn't put together that he was Flametongue. "I'm a wanderer. As for what's brought me here... My home used to be west of here and I haven't been there for a long time now. I was considering paying a visit."
What he didn't mention was that the place he was thinking of visiting was a burnt down ruin that was most likely reclaimed by nature by now. Even he didn't know what he planned to do there once he was there. He stretched out a hand covered by a fingerless glove towards Kirsa, the grin ever present. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Raven, huh... Rena thought to herself. A stranger with some sort of magic who's also a wanderer. Sounds sort of like me. The girl shook her head and dispelled those kinds of thoughts. If she kept trying to make connections like those, she'd just be fooling herself into trying to make friends. The guy would stab Rena in the back before that happened, or after, and simply would never truly be her friend.
And a home west of Dawn City? Rena was a traveler, and could find her way around Fiore pretty well. But she supposed that even any ordinary person would be able to know that Dawn City was one of the last civilized places this far west. Going farther, there were only two options. He was from another country, or any place outside Fiore, or he was from...
"Hm? There aren't very many places farther west of here. Are you from Gallowstown?" That was honestly the only other place Rena could think of. She had mostly ventured out into Northern Fiore, after all. This stranger, Raven, was strange. Raven... somehow the name seemed a bit familiar, but Rena hadn't followed most of the major events that went on throughout the country. She wasn't in a guild after all, and moved around much of the time.
The girl was interrupted from her thoughts when the man extended a hand, clothed in a fingerless glove. His expression was still half smiling in that annoying way as he gave that phrase the same as everyone "It's a pleasure to meet you." Not being one for shaking hands but unwilling to act like a complete idiot again, Rena switched her katana from her right to her left hand and nodded back slowly. "I suppose... it's nice to meet you." Immediately afterwards she let go and took a few steps away. "Well, I'll just be going now. I'll find my way by myself, so I don't need any help..." The girl hinted, hoping that this Raven wouldn't remember their conversation before.
"It's not surprising you don't know," Raven gave a small chuckle. He never thought he'd be laughing at his own unfortunate origins. Oh well, it's not like it changed anything one way or the other. "Years ago there used to be small settlements that dotted the area all the way to the coast. I wonder how many are still there..."
"Well, even if you don't need help finding your way I'll tag along," Raven said as he let his arm drop next to him. It might have been annoying, but he saw too much of his oldd self in her to just leave her be. And that aside, she was surprisingly interesting to him. Though it could just be the long week of sollitude. "I haven't been here in so long it'll do me good to wander the streets for a bit."
Rena sighed. There was definitely no getting rid of this insufferable human being. His laid-back personality seemed to hide something else though, which made the girl almost curious. But she still didn't want a stranger following her around. Why couldn't he just explore by himself? She had already said as much, but obviously there was some reason he was being this annoying and stubborn.
The girl shook her head wearily and waved vaguely at Raven. "If you're that insistent upon coming with me, there's no point in going right now. I'll explore some other time, since I don't like the idea of doing that with a stranger anyhow." Rena eyed Raven and sighed. She couldn't think of a way to get rid of him, since he would follow her if she left this part of town and didn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The girl could ask him to leave, but as far as she could see, it was highly unlikely that the guy would listen.
So, she plopped herself down next to him again and yawned. There was plenty of time before she was supposed to meet that person at the shoppe, wherever it was, and so calculating the time required to find the darn thing... Rena had at least an hour left. A nap seemed to be a reasonable choice, and with any luck the red-haired stranger would have left by then and wouldn't follow her. Rena closed her eyes and tried to ignore Raven. He'll leave if you do this right, the girl reminded herself.
"Oh?" He watched her sit down before sitting back down himself. If she was going to stay then he had no reason to leave. She could have left to ditch him if she really wanted to. But she didn't. So whatever she was doing she definitely didn't want prying eyes. But this only made him curious as to what she was up to. Of course, he wouldn't really pry that much. She didn't seem happy with him anyway.
"You look like you travel a lot," It was more that she had the faintest traces of scents from other places around Fiore that gave it away. But the sword, the magic, her way of dressing, and her apparent dislike of people kinda helped form that opinion. It was a good way to get to know someone. Don't ask what drives them, but ask where they've been. "I bet you've seen a few fun places on the trails."
Inwardly, Rena was screaming at the guy. Why couldn't he just shut up and leave her alone? She was trying to sleep, erm... pretending to try to sleep, but either way he should've been able to take the hint! Geez, this guy... the girl repressed another a sigh of exsasperation, but couldn't keep from wrinkling her forehead in annoyance.
Eventually, she opened her eyes and gave up trying to pretend she was trying to sleep. I do travel a lot. I don't want to talk about where I've been, either. I am a free person, not being controlled by a guild or another human, and I can do whatever I like and go wherever I wish!" Rena huffed out an answer that was a bit tinged with annoyance, and more than a bit sharp in a warning kind of way.
Deciding that the guy obviously couldn't take a hint, Rena added, "And I'm warning you to stop prying by asking me questions. I don't like it and I don't trust you." She really should've just ran away. That's what she normally does... but this person had seemed to be asleep after she noticed him there. Ah, shoot, he might be offended. Well... Rena didn't really care, but it was no good to do something like that on purpose. "Ah, er...but I have seen some beautiful places. Just... there are dark parts in all of them, too." Then she glared at Raven, as though challenging him to respond in his laid-back way. As far as she could tell, he would do so any day, and Rena groaned mentally.
"I guess that makes you quite a bit like me then," Raven chuckled quietly, despite the glare and the attitude. He didn't seem fazed by it, though it did remind him quite a bit of both himself and Kotone years ago. He felt old thinking about it despiite how long ago it'd been. Though, in his defense he'd seen more than his fair share of life. And judging by how Krisa acted, she'd started down that path too. Those who'd been abandoned by life were so easy to pick out, if only because of his own experiences. "I am not attached to any guild, organization, or people really. I am, as you say, free to do as I please."
"Though, I have to wonder," Raven's tone took on a serious undertone despite the aloof look. He looked right at Krisa as he spoke. Unlike before he seemed like someone who'd been in his fair share of trouble. His posture hadn't shifted, nor had he used any magic. It was just the subtle shift in his tone and mannerisms. "Is it that you don't trust me? Or is it that you fear me?"
"But I guess it doesn't matter," Just as soon as the tone was there, it was gone. He'd said that to cut her off and leaned against the tree with his hands behind his head, the aloof grin returning. Though he sat in a way where he could keep one eye on her to view her reaction. "There's a cliff with a lone tree standing on it a couple miles from Hargeon. Since you wander, it might be a place you want to check out. The sunset there is divine during the summer months."
