Ribbons Red [Archive] - Literature Network Forums

WordsWillCome

01-18-2015, 06:42 PM

Prologue

He was a well dressed man donned in bright colors and adorned with as much jewelry as a man could safety wear. During the day he was a mayor in a nearby town, thought by most to be an upstanding man of the law. If only people were not so blinded by their ideals. For by night, the man couldn't keep a simple ethic. He gambled with city funds, gorged drunkenly and, though always sated, never laid in bed with his wife. As a matter of fact, tonight he laid in bed with me, his fingers gently dragging through my hair.

“Your dancing tonight was most... enjoyable,” he cooed in my ear, inhaling my ebony locks. Shivers tickled down my spine as I laid against his bare chest. Butterflies nervously fluttered in my chest as I ran the tip of my finger across the fragile curve of his neck.

“Beautiful some might say,” I responded, swatting his hand away from the edge of my top. My dancing was indeed beautiful. It and I had served our purposes well but I was tired of being in stared and pawed at. I was tired of being in the foreground; I wanted to be in the shadows, just this once like everyone else.

“As are you,” he whispered pulling me closer to himself. If only he was the same. Oh, he was a handsome enough man for his age, roguishly charming to boot. No, it was not his looks that left much to be desired, it was his soul. He was two faced, sickeningly so while the rest of the guild turned blind eyes I laid here looking deeply into his.

I had thought it would harden my resolve but it wavered. Perhaps some small part of me was hoping it wouldn't. This would be my first time after all. Perhaps I too am an idealist at heart and I was trying to find some redemption there. Some hint of remorse or regret but there was nothing, save lust.

No one is perfect. This was not the first night I had ever spent with a man for I myself have had my flaws but a lifestyle founded on such a manner, so full of gluttony and disregard for moral values was unacceptable. It had to be punished. So I lay here in his arms, trying not to recoil at the vileness of his touch as I waited.

It was not long before he laid there with a vacant, stupid grin on his face, passed out from too much booze and flattery. I shook my head at the trusting fool for little did he know the moment of justice was at hand. Reaching between my legs, I tentatively pulled at the hilt that was strapped to my thigh, shivering as the body-warm blade slid along the surface of my skin. He looked so strangely innocent, lying there with his eyes closed, breathing so softly. As innocent as both he and I were years ago. But after a short time of staring at him again, I felt the memory of his touch crawling across my skin and I know what I had to do. For all the crimes he had committed on this night and all the ones past.

The cut must be swift and deep less my mission fail. Raising the blade to candle light I tested the sharpness with my thumb, licking away the drop of blood that began to bead. I paused for a moment before ripping a smile in his neck. His eyes opened briefly, wide and scared, before locking with mine in an empty stare. My breath held for a moment then quickened. The truth was splattered everywhere, creeping across the sheets and threatening the drown me beneath it. His clothes, my hands, my vision, it had all turned to red. A knock upon the door started me to life again.

“All is well,” I called with shaking voice but the door rattled. The blood damp veil that hung across my nose fluttered more quickly in my breathing. The door rattled again and she called of wine and glasses. Persistent girl. Gathering up my shoes, I fled for the window, tumbling effortlessly away into the shadows as her screams rended the air. I stumbled over my own body as I hastened away. The blood mingled with the growing wetness that slipped without permission down my cheeks.

A thousand times I had watched the members of my guild kill another person before my eyes but never had I had a reaction such as this. The sight, the thought of death had not phase me but as I ran through the dim light streets that evening I felt sickened. To have the blood stains on my own hands... I was far better suited to be beautiful than bloody my master had once told me. And perhaps as much as I hated to admit it, that was my fate.

For that night, when I finally blundered home, I checked my things but nothing seemed to be out of place. I searched them again in the daylight as the rumors spread a wildfire through the town but again found nothing lacking. Truth be told I have checked my belongs many a time since that night for fear that I had lost something. Something that might clue them into the true identity of his killer but alas I find that all I have lost is my innocence.

Their have been many investigations into the events of that night but to my knowledge no one has even been brought to justice. Even within my guild no one dares to point the finger though they are not shy of accusing eyes. My own master, thoughtful and wise, was perhaps the the most silent of all. I am sure he knew of my guilt yet he never wagged an accusing finger or scolded me with a charging stare. He just smiled and taught me as he always had when I was strong of will and weak of wisdom. To live is to make mistakes, he told me, to live is to learn. I supposed he was right. For even at the tender age of 21 life had taught me many things. Truth be told to that date most in my life had been learned by the noting the folly of another but that day marked a new chapter in my life. One in which I now actively stumbled across lessons and their consequences of my own instead of passive observance.

WordsWillCome

01-22-2015, 04:02 PM

Chapter 1 - Light Night

It was quite a contrast to when I was younger. Back then I spent most of the time doing chores around the mages' tower with my mother, sneaking away to watch the Dancing Lights, the mages' ribbon dancers, when I would tire of the monotony of mopping floors and dusting shelves. As they twirled about the floor I longed to be out there with them, getting lost in the space and time between their fluid ribbons but alas I was too young, too short, and too pudgy so I sat on the side lines and instead got lost in my day dreaming.

Living with the mages, it was not too long before I began to discover some of the secrets of their ways. They would often leave books lying about wide open upon their desks at night and the aged pages seemed to have a mystical draw on my curiosity. From the time I could read and run, I studied the forbidden texts often and soon began to practice what I read late at night in a secluded clearing deep within the woods nearby. The words flowed effortlessly from my tongue as I would dance below the spot light moon. By the time I was in my teenage years my skills were becoming such a second nature to me that they were beginning to become difficult to hide.

I was not the only villein to experiment in the arts. Many of the servants knew one minor spell or another which they used to bedevil the mages occasionally when they were mistreated but I was by far the one deepest into the mages' ways. Though my skills were great, no one knew of them. I had not told my mother, nor my brother, nor even my best friend Pluck. Not a single soul was the wiser until that warm, fateful summer morning.

I remember it well. It was early in the morning and my brother and I had just begun another grueling day of chores. I don't recall what started the scuffle anymore. Perhaps he had teased my hair, the point of my ears or the fit of my dress as he often did. Whatever the offense all I recall was my chest puffing with indignation as I tackled him onto the bed. We had wrestled there a thousand times before but this day things would be different.
“That is enough!” my mother had admonished as her foot steps began to stomp our way.

That was the moment everything began to go horribly wrong. In an effort to rapidly disengage my opponent I swiftly flung him over me and shoved my foot swiftly into his gut. His arms flew from mine as I hurried to scoot to the edge of the bed. My mother entered the room just as I was running my fingers elegantly through my unruly ebony curls.

“Reveri, where is Boden?”

He had just been here a moment ago; surely she was jesting. Where could he have gone? However, when I looked about I didn't see his unruly auburn locks or scrawny frame anywhere. All I saw was the breeze caressing the thinning curtains. Someone must have opened the window last night in hopes of a draft. It was swiftly becoming summer and the heat was stifling even in the wee hours. This fact had been neither here nor there between the sheets in the heat of battle. Open mouthed, I only shrugged and that was when we heard it.

My body seemed to recover faster than my mind. As soon as we heard the groan, my frantic limbs were scrambling my skirts and the sheets between myself and the window. As I peered over the edge, my blood paused within me, halting with it my breath as well. My only sibling was eye to eye with on of the tower's famed gargoyles. His arms were wrapped tightly about it's slender neck while the wind danced between his legs that dangled below. To look past him to the ground below was dizzying; I was nearly sick. His eyes welled, a sure sign of his distress for my brother didn't believe in useless things such as tears.
“Help,” he croaked as his palms began to slide, “I can't hold on. The polish is making me slip.”

Curse the mage's and their well kept furniture I thought as I threw my eyes between my brother and my mother's futile attempts to reach him. Alas, he was too far away, even for mother. The only thing that could reach him there was me... and magic. I was pulled from my musing by a terrified scream.

Diving into the space beside my mother at the window, I closed my eyes and uttered a single spell, “though it be not light at all, grant it now a feather's fall,” I whispered under my breath. Instantly his decent slowed. When his feet touched down on the ground, he patted himself down then grinned happily and flipped us his thumbs double up. I don't think I have ever seen my mother embrace him so tightly or stare at me in such a way as she did that day.

WordsWillCome

01-22-2015, 04:03 PM

Chap 1 (Con't)

Relief flooded me seeing my brother unscathed but so did trepidation for now they knew my secret. My brother was fascinated and ecstatic but my mother was wary. Fearing not my power but for the threat of discovery but also of my brother's interest. He begged me daily to teach him the trade but mother forbade it all the more. She would already lose one child should I be discovered, she couldn't bear the thought of losing two and so for the protection of everyone I alone carried the burden of the mages' knowledge.

It was a burden that was not light and seemed to become heavier with each passing day. It drug me into the shadows, for in the light even my own mother's gaze became unsettling. My brother's enthusiasm soon turned to venom when, in spite of his petitions, my resolve held strong. Soon, he began spreading poisonous rumors about my abilities. Luckily for me, no one believed him but mother worried it would only be a matter of time until they did. I lived that heavy life for several months before I could bear it no more.

Shortly before my 17th birthday I ran from that place, becoming a fugitive in my haste for my family's debt had not yet been repaid to the mages. I ran knowing they would chase but I ran knowing as long as I kept moving, it was freedom. However, in the days that followed, I found what truly little I knew of freedom. This commodity so often taken for granted was hard work when your only talents were parlor tricks and cleaning. The only advantage I found seemed to be that a lot of running and very little eating had a way of thinning you down.

After a couple months of aimless drifting, I settled down in a place known as Garison a good distance from Ulsin. Here, after several days of fruitless searching, I happened upon a man named Silas who quickly became fascinated by my story. He noted to me in our talks that it seemed to him I had spent most of my young life sneaking about and I agreed. I was lucky that Silas seemed to think it was one of my finer talents.

One day after I had known him a fortnight or so he offered to take me to meet his friends. There, I soon learned why he revered my stealth so highly. It turned out he was the leader of one of the up and coming assassins' guilds in Agus. I was taken aback at first but the idea began to grow on me. So one day, having nothing better to do and with the promise of a roof over my head and food again in my belly, I joined their guild.

Here my talents served me well without strange stares or judgment. I was not the only one in the guild with a knowledge of magic but mine was the most advanced especially relative to my age. I supposed this was because their first loves were death and weaponry and mine were dancing and texts. At first the life was new and exciting but as the days past and I found my place in the guild it began to read like the same old story. For once again I found myself in the shadows, watching the other skilled assassins carry out their craft. It was not long before I was the only one with my blood innocence left. I longed for a greater role but alas I was not swift like Roden nor clever like Yi Min, and certainly was not strong like Eitan. No, now slimmer and more graceful, all I was just beautiful.

I grew restless, tired of telling their stories when I wanted to be my own. Even the ribbon dancing I had long pined for didn't fill the void within me anymore. I begged Silas to let me have a mission of my own but he forbade it. He argued my talents were best suited for distraction. Whenever I tried to convince him otherwise he always laughed and pointed out that my delicate ribbons made for poor swords.

A few days later, fuming to myself after one such tiff, I careless bent one of our knives trying to cut the meat for my sandwich. My anger became displaced to the cheap soul who would spend a year's wages on their own weapon but mere copper piece on the kitchenware. I was about to launch it at the nearest unsuspecting cabinet or door when genius strict me unexpectedly. I flexed the blade between my fingers for a moment then picked up another and did the same. The forming idea was imperfect but it just might work I reasoned. I patted myself on the shoulder. Silas and whoever followed me into the kitchen would be livid but me, perhaps for the first time in many months, I would be happy. I glanced about for any lingering souls in the area before dumping our stock of knives into my skirts and scampering off the my room.

WordsWillCome

01-22-2015, 04:04 PM

Chap 1 (End)

To my dismay the knives were much harder than anticipated to affix to my ribbons. They needed thinning, trimming, sharpening and holes but after nearly a week of trial and error and many copper pieces paid to one of the nearby blacksmiths, it was finished. The polished metal and shimmering ribbon winked malevolently in the light of the candle; it was complete but I was not yet ready to show Silas my prize just yet. The ribbon sword was much heavier than my usual appurtenances. It required more strength and agility to wield but it's demands did not exceed my capabilities. A few impatient months and several awkwardly explained injuries later I was ready.

It was a cool evening late in the fall. The guild was all gathered to celebrate one of Yi Min's particularly lucrative endeavors but tonight I planned on stealing the show. I donned my celebration attire and carefully gathered up my ribbons as I made my way to the festivities. Some time into the evening, when everyone was all properly drunk but not quite yet beside themselves I made my way to center of the room.

A restless hush fell over the room as I assumed my usual performance pose and a smirk graced my face as I began to spin and twirl amidst the applause that rose like my spirits. I danced my way across the room to where Silas sat at the head table and when he looked my way I knew the time was upon me. Breaking from my usual routine, I flung my ribbon out like a whip into the feast before him. Plates were upturned everywhere, shreds of meat and fruit flew like birds. Wide eyed he stared at me as a piece of boar patted him on the head.

At first his gaze was shock but it began to gray quickly as whispers began to fill the room. He stood suddenly to his feet to survey the damage before swiftly coming to my side and dragging me through the door out into the snipping wind.

“Are you mad?” he demanded as he tried to snatch my ribbon from me but quickly recoiled when it bit his fingers.

“I...”

“You are nothing. Do you have any idea how dangerous this... this...”

“weapon is,” I finished in his place, “I am aware how dangerous it is. I designed it. Kolt helped me attach the blades and...”

“I forbid it,” he spat, “it will surely be the death of you.”

“It is my own creation. I have trained with it long and hard to master it. I know how to handle it.”

Silence reigned as I watched his mind tick and remnants of fading anger smoldered in his eyes. Silas was not one that liked to be caught unawares. Perhaps coming to him in private would have been the proper approach but what's done was done. He took a deep breath as I continues on, “you have always told me stealth was my greatest talent. Let me use it. No man would ever suspect the threat I now pose.”

He held his tongue a moment longer then gently spoke something I never thought he would say.

“Ah my little rain dancer,” he called me this since the first time he ever saw me dance was in the rain, “you are too softhearted for this. You think you want it but you do not know the consequences with which you flirt”

“I...”

“I will not take your toy from you,” he interrupted, “but please heed my warning. Do not be strong of will and weak of wisdom. Your innocence is your true beauty. Do not be so willing to give it away in exchange for such ugly things.”

I only nodded, the sewn blades perched on my finger tips as pondered what he had said.

The memory faded quicker than Silas would have hoped in the ethic numbing business of The Devil's Eye. It found itself buried particularly fast below the newest rumor about a morally deplete mayor who was bankrupting his citizens. The story tasted sour in my mouth but was of no consequence to anyone else because there had been no bounty placed upon his head.

As for me, I cared not for money when something reeked so foul and took it upon myself to reorder the state of his affairs. When he resisted my less invasive tricks it became apparent only one method would settle the matter and that is the story of how I came to be here where I sit now, dreaming about if only I had listened. Catching my miserable breath as I rest from trying to dance away from my endless guilt. As I sit here I vow that if I am to kill again, it would be in the heat of battle, no longer in the heat of moment.

WordsWillCome

01-27-2015, 07:30 PM

Chapter 2 - Mirror Mirror

Time passed and soon the shock of my outburst and the mayor's mysterious death were forgotten or so it seemed until one evening when Silas pulled me aside.

“I have an assignment for you.”

“F-for me?” I stuttered in disbelief. I had been a member of the guild for nearly three years now but never once had I been given an assignment before.

“Yes, Reveri, for you. I have pondered long and hard about things since last fall and I have decided that if becoming a full fledged member of the group is what you want to do that I should not stand in your way. You are a grown woman now. Fully able to make your own decisions by this time I should hope.”

“Indeed I am,” I replied, strengthening my shoulders, “what's the assignment?”

“It seems that our old friend Kirin has gotten himself into a bit of a situation with the law again and he is in need of some assistance.”

“Can't the courts handle what he needs?” I asked. Silas paused for a moment to look at me before responding.

“They could and still may but he is offering us a tidy sum to take care of it for him instead. I need you to find his associate Levi Duskwalker and bring him here. Kirin wishes to speak with him but can't seem to track him down. You are our stealthiest and least hostile member so I figured this assignment best suited you.”

“Very well,” I assented, “ do you have any idea where Levi might be?”

“Kiren thinks that he is still somewhere in the city just lying low. Perhaps he is down by one of the ports in case he desires to make a quick escape.”

“Then that is where I shall begin my search,” I said with a smile begin to curve upon my face. Anticipation tingled in my veins as Silas gave me a description of what Levi looked like and then sent me away. Sleep that evening was intermittent and restless at best. When I woke in the morning I was tired but eager. After dressing swiftly I packed a small sack and set off for the docks.

Levi Duskwalker soon proved to be an elusive man. I searched until my hair smelled of the sea and there was tender redness on the tips of my pale pointed ears but found nothing. After nearly two weeks of searching all I had found was sand and seashells in my shoes. Everyone had heard of him but no one had seen him. It was no wonder Kirin had come to us to find him; the man was a ghost.

Then one day when the heat from Silas was particularly singeing, I returned home to find a shabby paper scrap affixed to my door. It read, “I heard you were looking for me. Meet me at the west pier tomorrow morning at 3am. Don't be late.”

I groaned to myself and wearily climbed into bed for it was almost midnight already. Two hours later, after I had drug myself from under the covers and donned what I hoped was some presentable attire, I made my way to the western pier. The air was warm but water logged as an eerie mist hoovered over the whispering waves. I waited for 30 minutes then an hour with still no sign of the elusive soul I was supposed to meet. Just as I was about to give up and slink defeated back to my sheets, a strong weight fell on my shoulder and I found myself jerked back into the boathouse I had been standing nearby. A clap of lanky fingers clasped over the scream that had torn up through my throat.

“It is me,” said a low, hushed voice. My panicked mind struggled to wrap itself around the words it was speaking. “It is Levi.”

His slender fingers slid from my lips as I slowly turned to face him. He was a tallish man of slightly more impressive than average build. His dirty blonde hair waved over his pale forehead, just shy of playing tag with his gray star flecked eyes. His clothes were well kept but time worn. The intention of his expression was obscured in the darkness of the shadows as his eyes ran over me.

They paused on my mismatched feet, stirring up my usually self assured nature. What a fright I must look with my obsidian locks thrown up in such careless haste. My flint gray eyes dark and puffy from lack of sleep and my once stylish outfit now on such a scrutinized display. He looked over me sharply but if he paid my ensemble any heed, he gave no indication of it.

WordsWillCome

01-27-2015, 07:31 PM

Chap 2 (Con't)

“What is your intent?” he questioned warily. “You are stirring up trouble. Kiren will surely find me now thanks to all the ruckus you're causing.”

I was about to say that was my intent when the door suddenly flung wide open. Two men brandishing large swords barged into our quiet space. The smaller of the two pointed and yelled when he saw us. In the flurry of chaos that followed, Levi hastily grasped my arm and pulled me backwards one of the small craft swaying lazily nearby. My teeth jarred as my thin bottom bounced with an damp thud against the burden boards. Levi climbed in after nearly on top of me, barking orders to untie this and pull that.

Frantically I worked to fulfill his orders only to find I was hopelessly useless. Having never spent much time near the docks before my search for him I had no idea what the bow, the stern or the rowlock was. He pushed me aside and managed to untangle us and push off from the dock just as the smaller man reached where we had been.

As we drifted out to sea, he shoved me to the back of the boat and he took up seat in the middle to begin rowing. It wasn't long before sweat was on his forehead and the men were out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to rhythmically stroke the water.

“That was close,” I ventured then added with a grateful smile, “but thanks to your quick thinking we're safe now.”

“Safe? Are you daft? Your reckless snooping took us from one bad situation into another. Now instead of facing Kirin's goons we face the sea with no food, no water and no sense of direction. The Echoing Sound is no place to be without a compass.”

He was right about that. The cliff faces here were all made of parrotin, a mirror like rock famed for it's powers of seemly flawless reflection. Here, not only did noises surround you but so did nearly every reflection in the sound. This made it nearly impossible to navigate without a compass.
“Why don't you just row a little longer and then turn us back?”

“Because now that you stirred up trouble for me in Garison. Now no matter where we go there, Kirin will find us.”

When he had finished chiding me we sat silently in the boat. I looked away from his exasperated gaze. Though it couldn't have been more than 5:30 at the time, I gazed out into the shimmering water and scanned the distant cliff faces. Here in the Echoing Sound was very seldom ever completely dark. The nearly prismatic parrotin caught every glimmer of light from miles around causing the area to have a faint glow even in the weest hours. It was in this warm glow I took comfort. Someone would surely see us here. It was mid-spring; the sun would be rising soon. The villagers would take to their boats and take their boats to the sea and without any luck someone would find us.

With thoughts of imminent rescue at the forefront in my mind, the tension in my body began to slowly melt away and I yawned. Having had such a poor few hours of sleep this morning even the stranger glowering at me couldn't deter my eyes from slipping closed. He could toss me overboard for all I cared; I needed sleep.

I awoke not long after to a small wetness being flung against my cheek. I looked accusingly at Levi but he paid me no heed as he stared off into the sky. The dark clouds rolling on the horizon contrasted with the subtle rays that had begun to rise. A cool, damp wind rose from the waters and swirled about me; I shivered. It was then Levi turned to face me.

“I have evaded many things in my life but your carelessness may just be the death of me.”

I looked down at my feet as he chided me, unsure of what to say. Part of me felt guilty because it seemed it was indeed my actions that had led us into this predicament but the other side of me wanted to argue that if he had only just talked with Kirin earlier none of this would have happened at all. I sealed my lips, unwilling to say anything else that may further displease him. After all, up until three hours ago, he was a complete stranger to me outside of the rumors I came across searching. I knew nothing of his true temperament or capabilities.

WordsWillCome

01-27-2015, 07:32 PM

Chap 2 (End)

I was pulled from my rousing by a metallic clunk. I watched curiously as Levi reached down below where his boot was resting in a tattered old sail and plucked a tarnished round object from amid the tangled cloth. His eyes brightened for a moment then faded.

“What is is?”

“It's a compass but it's broken,” he said dejectedly as he stared at the cracked glass and the bent needle, “I swear, I've never had such rotten luck until you crossed my path.”

As he went to toss it into the lapping waters I snatched it from him as he uttered some unpleasant thing. Paying his pouting no heed, I cradled the beaten piece in my palm. His attention turned to me as I began to swirling my finger against the shattering glass. Below my breath I uttered a long familiar spell and smiled gratefully as the needle began straighten and spin below. The glass was still fractured but when my finger slid from the glass the needle jumped to true north. A smile slowly spread across his angled features.

“You may not be completely useless just yet,” he noted aloud, taking the device from me.

The winds whipped angrily about us as he silently navigated. To where he was taking us I was not sure nor did I care so long as it got me off of this boat I thought longingly as I clutched my stomach. I had faired well enough in calm seas but as the waves began to vigorously dip and swell so too did my insides. When I could take no more, I curled up against the salt soaked floorboards and closed my eyes.

It was in that moment that I heard a horrid trail of curses from Levi's mouth. The boat suddenly rocked more violently than ever and before I knew it I was tossed headlong into the raging sea. My stunned senses recovered slowly as Levi and I clamored towards the surface.

Soon both of us were clutching desperately to the meager debris the surrounded us. When I looked up to see what Levi had been shouting about I gasped. A large ship several times the size of our little rowboat couldn't be more than 10 feet from where we were floating. The larger vessel's wake must of capsized our much smaller craft in the rough seas. I stared at it as Levi hollered frantically beside me. As I floated there cursing our dumb luck a paralyzing truth dawned upon me. Realizing that without our boat they were only only hope, my frantic shouts soon chimed in with Levi's.

It seemed a life time before they were able to rig up a rope and toss it to us. As it sailed through the air towards us Levi and I both clamored for it. When we grasped it hand over hand at the same time we just stared at each other as the sailors hollered for one of us to let go. It seemed an eternity before either of us moved. When we did, it was Levi who grasped the rope tighter then swiftly looked away before he threw it back towards me. Free of the lifeline he swam off towards the nearest piece of debris.

Before I knew it I was being hoisted into the boat and untangled from the water logged rope. As soon as I was free, they threw the tightly braided cord to Levi and it wasn't long before he was seated safely beside me. I breathed a sigh of relief as the sailors began to scamper about the deck again, barking orders to one another as they wrestled with the sails and ropes that waved about recklessly in the wind. We sat there watching helplessly for several minutes before someone ordered us below deck. Gathering the tattered blanket that had been haphazardly flung at me earlier, Levi and I made our way down into the hold.

WordsWillCome

02-04-2015, 02:18 PM

Chapter 3 - Sea you see

The hold was damp and smelled of old cigars but it was a welcome reprieve from the weather the wind and rain that whined above. We wandered for a short time before coming across a room full of unkempt beds. As I stood in the doorway, Levi began to rifle through the pillows and sheets.

“What are you doing?” I scolded, “that's probably someone's bunk. What happens when they come back and find it all torn apart?”

“What happens if we don't dry off and warm up?”

I wanted to argue with him but my chattering lips held closed. Perhaps outside it was a more tolerable temperature on deck in fair seas but down in the hold's poorly lit accommodations the angry wind falling down the stairs warmth was scarce.

I caught the wool blanket as Levi threw it to me and buried my face in it's warmth.

“I see you're making yourselves at home.”

We stared at the tall stranger that had darkened the opening. The bald middle aged man stared back at us, water running down his forehead and dripping off the end of his nose. The thick hair on his bulging, folded forearms was matted from the storm.

“Cap'n sent me down to check on you,” he explained with a pout, “guess he thinks mak'n sure you drown rats is comfortable is more impor'nt than me help'n on deck.”

“We're fine. I'm good at making due,” Levi injected before the man could continue his rant. The gruff mannered sailor slid his eyes to me. “I'll make sure she's taken care of too.”

“Just make sure you be leaving enough for the rest of us,” he huffed as he turned and disappeared up the stairway. I released a sigh I didn't even know had been held captive.

There was silence as we gathered our blankets and settled into a corner. Once settled, I rested my chin on my well wrapped knees and stared at Levi. It wasn't long before his eyes held with mine and his lips parted.

“What?”

“You don't seem like the kind of guy who would... never mind.”

“Who what?”

“Well, Silas said you had...”

“Silas knows nothing of me,” Levi interjected defensively.

“Kirin told him...”

“Kirin knows nothing about me either,” Levi interrupted again. “Kirin and Silas have an arrangement; Kirin makes up lies and Silas believes them. He's been using it to manipulate him for years." Silas was too smart for that and I knew it. I wanted to insist upon it but I knew my knowledge would fall on death ears. Levi continued his speech in my silence and gave end to the conversation before it could properly start, "I'm not discussing this further at the moment. Now is not the time."

The damp air about us grew more uncomfortable in the silence that followed so to ward of the chill that followed I wrapped the blanket tighter about. My lids grew heavy in the darkness and my willful consciousness began to slip away from me. I hardly noticed that before long the clamor on deck had begun to quiet and the boats rocking began to soften.

WordsWillCome

02-04-2015, 02:18 PM

Chap 3 (Con't)

When I awoke I had no sense of what time had passed. Levi was nowhere to be found and I was alone in the cabin. As I sat up the blanket slipped from around my shoulders, someone it seemed had tucked me in against the cold. Just as I was making up my mind to thank them if I ever discovered who they were when I heard the thud of heavy boots tramping down the stairs. It wasn't long before a stocky gentleman was squinting down at me with an unreadable expression.

"You're awake," he noted aloud with the same look to his voice. I nodded as he continued unsure as to what the cause of his bewilderment was; most people that did sleeping often did waking as well. "We were beginning to wonder if you'd come round. Been asleep for nearly two full days you have. Feverish too off and on. Must have been that storm. Took a toll on all of us it did, poor Einya included." I was curious who Einya was but he carried on to quickly to ask. "What were you two love stick doves doing out in that dinky boat in such a large storm anyway? Haven't you got any good sense between the two of you?"

I should have corrected him about Levi and I straight away but now that he had mentioned it, I was feeling a bit peaked. As I tried speak my lips threatened to cracked and my voice nearly croaked. How long had he said I had been asleep?

"Don't tire yourself all at once," he said as he offered me a sip of water, "you'll have plenty of time for that later."

This time it was my turn to be bewildered. Plenty of time for that later? Surely a suitable port couldn't be too far off. I had only been unconscious for two days what could I have missed? Why was this man telling me my fate? Why had I been alone? Where was Levi?

Seeming to sense my mounting distress the sailor spoke, "don't worry about the young sir, he's quite fine. Didn't have near as rough a time of it as you. He's on deck learning how to swab it proper and rig the sails more of the former than that latter truth be told." He said with a deep belly laugh.

"What would he be doing that for?" the inquiry was beyond my lips before I even knew I planned to ask it.

"I suppose a proper introduction is in order before I be telling you that exactly. You see, round here they call me Cap'n Kayc. This be my boat The Iron Ingrid you dropped in on all unexpected. While you were sleep'n off the fever I offered to take you to the nearest port but your feller said he'd rather stay here and dangle from the rigging.

Don't know what he's running from so desperate, don't want to know," the middle aged man snuffed, "so long as he does his work well I won't be asking. After such a large storm an extra set of hands is hard to turn down especially when they land so tidily on your deck. As for you, pretty as you'd look displayed in the rigging, I think I've got a better job more suited for you m'lady."

He helped me rise then steadied me on my feet before leading me up the stairs, across the deck and down into the galley. Once inside he brought me over to the cranky old cook who made no effort to hide his displeasure. He was clearly unimpressed by the sight of me, as he should be. Mother would swear I couldn't even boil water to save myself without the help of magic.

Thankfully it turned out that assisting the cook was not the job he had in mind for me. After he had gotten me some warm soup to eat and some stale bread to soak it up with he brought me back to what I could only imagine were the captain’s quarters. The furniture was fairly regulation but it was the trimmings on the windows the caught my eye. The deep purple, even though slightly dingy, were clearly an expensive investment. They must bring some life to the otherwise austere experience of the endless blue expanse of the sea.

“Small piece of home,” he said noticing my interest in them, “remind me of the Mrs I've got waiting there.”

As I took another second to admire the hand embroidered curtains, the captain sauntered over to what appears to be a large shutter. The door swung open easily and as it did the captain called into the dark.

“Einya,”

Nothing stirred.

“Come here girl,” he coaxed as he rubbed his finger tips together, “there's someone I'd like you to meet.”

WordsWillCome

02-04-2015, 02:20 PM

Chap 3 (End)

From somewhere in the dark something did stir then and what emerged I had never seen the likes of ever before. As it turns out Einya was a cat. A black cat to be precise but her silky ink coat was not her most stunning feature. No, her eyes were much more striking. She had two different colored eyes and while that was strange enough it wasn't entirely unheard of. What was unheard of and what I couldn't believe my own eyes saw was that her two eyes shared the colors. They split vertically behind her pupils; towards her nose was blue and towards the outside they hued green. Their blue and green blinked lazily back at me as she tilted her head to the side and seemed to take a moment to form her opinion of me.

“Well she didn't spring to gouge your eyes out so she must find you fairly tolerable. She doesn't take a shine to many strangers but it seems you passed her test,” he informed me with a smile, “Reveri, this is Einya. She will be your job while you're on this boat. She keeps a tight schedule, one I can't quite keep up with anymore, so now I'll leave her in your capable hands. Make sure you take good care of her and keep to her schedule. She's sort of our fair Ingrid's good luck charm if you know what I mean. Haven't had any real catastrophes since she's been aboard and I’d like to keep it that way.”

With that he turned and left leaving me with the disinterested feline. I perused her daunting schedule thinking that surely the launching of this vessel was an easier task. As I did Einya yawned and stretched the slimness of her belly out across her bed, arching her back. Settling down into a tight curl on the plush bedding she sighed, covered her inky nose with her tail and easily dropped off to sleep. '3:15 until 4:45 Einya naps' it dictated; so far so good I congratulated myself.

It didn't take me long to decide that caring for Einya was one of the most tedious and least rewarding jobs on the whole ship. I had done many lackluster jobs in my life, but pampering Einya was a truly boring business for someone as free spirited as I. Staying coped up in the captain's quarters was stifling. I'd rather be dangling from the rigging I often mussed silently.

Despite my dislike for being impossibly tasked with watching after her incredulous schedule, Einya and I got on well. It didn't take us long to find we shared a common love of the night. We'd sit up together long after the rest of the crew had tucked in for the night and stare off into the star shine on the sea. Sometimes when the day had been particularly long and insufferable for whatever reason we'd sneak out onto the deck. Einya would watch entranced as I practiced my ribbon dancing in the moonlight. It only took her one misplaced swat to gain a proper wariness for my ribbon sword. I was grateful Captain Kayc didn't notice the temporary limp.

I never practiced in daylight, only by cover of night. I had a feeling that a magic welding dancer with so cleverly a disguised weapon would be even less well tolerated than the female I already was. Perhaps it was for the best that taking care of Einya kept me contained in the captain's quarters for long periods of time. The Captain didn't seem the superstitious type save the presence of Einya but the other sailors were more religious on the matter and held to the superstition that women were bad luck, especially the pretty ones.

Some days those days it seemed my only friend was Einya. When she followed me out on deck as had become her habit I often felt we would stare of into the night and share a moment, an understanding. It would be sometime later before I understood it but for now I simply chose to be grateful. For that single moment in the wide old world where someone understood me, even if she was just a cat.

WordsWillCome

02-07-2015, 12:50 PM

Chapter 4 - Land Lover

It was days later when I finally spied Levi tying back one of the sails. He looked like he was really getting into this sailing business, like he didn't mind slaving away in these meager conditions. Not being of the same opinion, I knew we had to talk. When I tapped him on his shoulder, he turned about abruptly.

"Oh, it's just you," he said, dropping his guard, "good to see you up and about again. Was beginning to think you'd sleep the whole voyage away and leave all the work to me."

I supposed I could have teased him back but there was something that needed discussing and I didn't want childish banter making light of it. This voyage was precisely what I had come to talk to him about. How dare he sign us up to stay on this boat when captain said a week ago we could have been in port had Levi not so graciously declined that for the both of us.

"That's sort of what I came to talk to you about, Levi."

"I was afraid that might have been the case," he said as he dusted his dirty palms off on his probably even dirtier pants. I was wordless for a time as I decided how best to broach the subject. I didn't want to jump right in and down his throat but I didn't really see a way around it and since I didn't know how long I had until he was monkeying away into the rigging again.

"Why didn't you have them take me to shore when you had the chance. I could have seen a proper doctor then and we'd be back to our usual lives again after you talked to Kirin."

"Are you daft? You really have no idea what's really going on here do you? I expected more of you when you said you worked for Silas," he pulled me aside before continuing. Before I could do more than sputter in protest he added, "you know who I am now. Where I've been and where I'm going. I'm not going back with you to talk to anyone and sending you back to Silas while I try to make my getaway is futile. You'd rat me out without half a thought about it. And if you fail to bring me back I can only imagine what Kirin might have done to you. No, until I decide what best to do you're staying with me and we're staying as far away from Garison as possible."

I didn't care much for how Levi talked about Silas. Or me for that matter. I figured it was a good thing he was so good at being difficult to find and seemed to prefer solitude. I couldn't imagine there probably weren't too many people that enjoyed Levi's company.

"I can't just not go home. Silas will be worried. This is my first real assignment and..."

"Well that explains a lot," Levi muttered to himself as I continued.

"Just where do you plan to go if not back to Garison?"

"Wherever the boat sails," he said with a childish yet triumphant grin, "instead of whining about it how about you just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Realizing that even if I wasn't defeated, I was, I turned to walk away then paused. Turning back I asked a question that had been bothering me for a few days now.

"Why did you let me use the rope first when they rescued us?"

He clearly thought only of himself so the gesture seemed out of place. He was silent for a moment then gave a loud laugh and his reply.

"My mom raised me better than I sometimes act. I may not have many scruples but I'm not sure I could ever forgive myself if I let a lady I could have saved go down with the ship while I was rescued, even if she seems to be a mostly useless one with very poor luck."

I stood there muted and stared at his for another moment before walking away. Then I wandered about the ship, pouting for a short time after failing to find a proper comeback before returning to Einya. It was past lunchtime now. My stomach was now full but if Einya's wasn't, shortly she'd begin mewing about the cabin and the Captain would know I'd been neglecting her.

WordsWillCome

02-07-2015, 12:51 PM

Chap 4 (Con't)

It was a few days later Captain Kayc informed me that the ship was bound for Cil'un on Tsuibz after stopping for supplies in the capital of Upsilin. Gruntun was the capital of Upsilin, the continent directly across from Agus. It was known for it's unusually large inhabitants and their notoriously unwelcoming reception of strangers. While Upsilin made me nervous, hearing that the captain intended to resupply there and then continue onto Tsuibz just made me cringe. Upsilin could be pleasant enough if you avoided prolonged interaction with the natives but there was nothing redeemable about Tsuibz. It was an unforgivably cold continent that only attracted the worse of creatures. The other continents were known for shipping their unwanted off to its frozen shores. It seemed a strange place for any reputable captain to go but he reassured me it was a necessary evil.

It seemed a long time before we finally docked in Gruntun. By the time we arrived there the crew was restless to be off the ship after several smaller storms that had plagued our travels since the one that indentured us to the captain. It seemed as soon as the ship could dock it was deserted; it was long before just Levi, the captain and I remained on deck. Captain Kayc took a deep breath of the port air then turned, stretching his arms across his head as if he hadn't been able to do so in months.

"Well then now that she's all secured Einya and I will be headed ashore for some long over due proper pampering," he said as he looked knelt down to the oddly eyed cat that was weaving in between his boots and picked her up, "what do you say we go find me some nice ale and you treat you to some milk."

Einya mewed her assent and then two of the wandered off in search of their respective desires. I looked to Levi who seemed to be in far more serious a mood than the rest of them.

"We're going shopping," he told me as he began walking towards the shore, "we will be needing much warmer clothes if we're heading to Tsuibz."

I wanted to protest but I knew it would be futile so after standing there a moment I hurried after him. I tried not to gawk at the natives that we passed though most of them openly gawked at us. I suppose we looked to be a strange pair, even stranger perhaps because we certainly weren't sailors though Levi had begun to look more the part.

It wasn't long before we happened upon The Quilted Northern. As we slipped in through the front door we weren't greeted by anyone. As a matter of fact, we had nearly made our selections before anyone came to aid us. When they finally did I couldn't helping taking note of her appearance and demeanor. She was a tall muscular woman with a large brow and squinty eyes which didn't endear her to us; her voice was low and gruff as she tried to feign interest in our plight. When we finally had settled on our purchases, she grunted as she gathered up our requested items and began to move towards the sales counter.

It was in that moment panic struck me. Due to our little unplanned misadventure only a few coin jingled in my pocket. The rest of my belongings were collecting dust in Agus. I looked to Levi but he didn't seem flustered so I silently followed him. By the time we reached the counter, Levi as already withdrawing the needed payment from his pocket. He dropped it in her calloused palm, thanked her as he gathered up our coats and headed for the door. Once we were outside I couldn't contain my curiosity.

"Where did all that money come from?" I asked him as he handed off the things he had purchased for me into my arms.

"I'm always prepared when I'm on the run. As for your things, you can thank Captain Kayc for those. He seemed to figure you wouldn't be as well prepared and sent some silver pieces with to thank you for taking care of Einya."

"Oh," I managed as we settled into a causal stride.

Things fell quiet for some time as we visited the cobbler, the grocer and general store. Once we had finished up our shopping we headed to the nearby inn for some proper nourishment. Oh how much I hadn't known I missed good food that wasn't inclined to wandering away as the ship rocked. It was not so much that Iron Ingrid's cook was bad (he wasn't) it just was not the same. As Levi ladled a mouthful of soup to his mouth with the bread warm between his fingers I broke the silence.

"Did the captain mention anything about what his business was in Tsuibz?"

Levi chewed thoughtfully for a moment then replied, "it's not the captain’s business entirely that takes us to Cil'un. I petitioned him to make the detour so that I can go and see a friend of mine. Someone who might have a better idea than I to help get us out of this predicament you've managed to get us into."

WordsWillCome

02-07-2015, 12:52 PM

Chap 4 (End)

I wanted to argue it was equally his fault for being so uncooperative but I didn't feel like making hostile conversation. This was the first time I'd felt relatively content since this whole ordeal began and I wasn't about to sacrifice it in an argument with such a stubborn minded man.

We ate the rest of our meal in blessed silence before Levi dismissed himself to his room for the evening leaving me alone with the a few rude stares and my thoughts. I ignored the former as I stared into the hearth's blaring fire.

When the waitress startled me by clanking my plate and glass as she collected them some times later I decided it was time I was on my way. Tonight I tread softly up the creaky stairs to where my warm, dry bed awaited me instead of back to the ship. Since the captain had given his crew the night off there was no point to returning directly to the ship anyway.

As I laid in a real bed that night, truly alone for the first time in over a month, my mind began to wander home. Back across the sea to what Silas and the others must be doing. To worrying if the letter I had sent today would ever reach him. To what Levi had said over the meal about needing to go to Tsuibz to talk to a friend of his. Was he... were we really in that much danger?

It was well known in Agus that Kirin's moral compass didn't point north but would Silas really had asked me to bring Levi home just so that Kirin could hurt him or worse? I liked to think of Silas as better than that but I was part of an assassin's guild. Silas was their leader and Kirin was a very powerful man. Maybe Levi was right; I would just be taking him home to take the fall but what other choice did I have? It was the assignment that was given to me. I couldn't fail Silas, not after all that he had done for me. Oh what a fine mess I had gotten myself into! Maybe this friend of Levi's would know what to do. Those thoughts and many others tumbled through my head as I tossed and turned for most of the night before falling into a restless sleep.

I'm not sure how long Levi knocked on my door the next morning before I answered it. Once I did I followed his impatient steps down the creaky steps. We finished breakfast then hurried back to the ship. We were the first to arrive back but the rest of the crew soon staggered back. The last of the crew hurried up the ramp to their stations ahead of Captain Kayc and Einya.

"Well now look at you and your fancy new shiny things. Crew was takin' bets on whether or not you'd ever come back land lover," he said looking at me, "few of them gonna be mighty poor til their next coins get to um." I opened my mouth to speak but he came forward, handed me Einya and said, "don't you worry about it none, Reveri. They're used to makin' poor bets and goin' a few days a little short."

"Well, Einya, it looks like it's just you and me then," I remarked to the as Levi sauntered off leaving us alone. We spent a few hours on deck then returned to the captain's quarters when the crew began to talk of putting out to sea again.

I tried my best to keep from suffocating under the weight of the anticipation. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified when we pulled into port 5 weeks later. The trip was long but uneventful. I was grateful for a chance to be off the ship again but anxious about what greater dangers awaited us now.

WordsWillCome

02-10-2015, 03:21 PM

Chapter 5 - Blood Red

The crew wasn't as eager to disembark here. A few of them left in groups now and then to restock the necessary supplies but as a general rule everyone remained on the ship. It was only a short time after we pulled into port before Levi tracked me down and told me it was time to go find his contact.

As he gathered a few things I made some preparations of my own. Unsure of what we'd encounter I grabbed my short blade and nestled it in mouth of my boot before carefully wrapping up my ribbons and draping them over my shoulder. Levi raised his eye brow at me as we readied to depart. When he made a grab for my ribbons, my shoulder dodged away.

“Leave those girly play things here. We'll have no use for them in Cil'un.”

“No. I am bringing them with,” I stated in a stubborn tone.

“I wouldn't go about advertising you're a girl in these parts, Reveri. There no laws or morals in this place. Leave them here.”

We went back and forth a few more times before Levi gave a great sigh and turned to walk away. I heard him muttering under his breath for a short time but I let it pass. He didn't know what they truly were. He didn't know what I was capable of. He assumed I was some pretty little errand girl sent to fetch him, the big bad wolf. He had no idea of the things I'd done, what I was capable of and for now that was how I wanted it to remain.

Silence followed and it seemed like we wandered in circles for hours before Levi slipped through the dingiest looking door on the street. The lighting inside was extremely poor, only really bright enough to reveal the dust lazing about in the musty air. For a short time the silence prevailed but then I heard something else move towards us a short ways off in the darkness. I looked at Levi expecting to see his guard up but he moved along as if he had never heard it. Ill at ease I moved forward with him trying to feign his nonchalance.

“Long time it'ss been, Dussstwalker,” a disembodied voice greeted. I gasp and frantically looked about for who had spoken. In response, Levi put a put a calming hand on my shoulder. Thankfully he chose the one without the ribbons.

“Be calm, Reveri, it's just Ekans.”

“Jusst Ekanss, jusst Ekanss,” the voice repeated as something began to shimmer in the low light.

As I watched Ekans slithered into the dying glow of a nearby torch. He wasn't an overly large or intimidating at first glance but his long ,white perhaps poisonous fangs looked as sharp as contract of his deep orange and gray scales with the dark. He was a smallish type fellow, more snake than man if truth be told but since his presence didn't disturb Levi I tried to relax and I tried not to stare. I had always been fascinated by how snakes how they moved across the ground like my ribbons danced through the air. Ekans, whatever he really was, was no exception.

When the snake man's eye fixed on me I looked away and tried to distract myself with pondering our predicament. I still was unsure about it all. Where were we? Who were we going to see? Surely this Ekans fellow couldn't be him.

“Where is Loren?” Levi asked the snake fellow who folded his thin arms over his chest as his tail shook in an irritated manner.

“Masster is not here. Off to see Issadora he iss.”

“When will he be back? I have urgent business with him.”

“Back he will be sssoon. Any day now.”

“I want to talk to him as soon as he gets back. Is there a place in Herspenot we can stay here until he returns?”

“Ssure there iss,” Ekans responded as he turned about on his belly and headed back the way he had come, “pleasse follow me.”

As Ekans lead us down into the earthen walled pits of Herspenot I couldn't help but feel the tension brush against my skin like razor blade edges. I kept my eyes peeled for any other strange beings we might encounter. Ones that perhaps would be even less welcoming than Ekans; thankfully we encountered none. The place appeared pleasantly deserted for the time being though the hairs on the back of my neck seemed to recognize this for the false security it surely was.

When we reached the bottom the hallway gave way to a slightly more well lit area that appeared to be some sort of dining hall. The dingy area was sparely populated with several rough hewn tables and chairs. Only one thin, squinty eyed man dressed in black occupied the space. When he saw us enter he rose from his chair and headed off down a small hallway to the left. Ekans lead us away from him and down another hallway to the right. He slithered over to one door and nodded his head towards it.

“Dusskwalker thiss iss yourss,” he looked to me and nodding to the opposite side of the hall added, “thiss is yourss pretty misss.”

“Thank you, Ekans,” Levi offered to our now slightly less agitated guide. I caught a smirk on the snake's face as he turned to slither out of the hallway. Levi probably made his night. Ekans seemed to be an under appreciated fellow.

WordsWillCome

02-10-2015, 03:22 PM

Chap 5 (End)

Before I could ask him anything Levi disappeared into his room and the door was closed. I turned to mine and paused. Then, taking a deep breath, I turned to cool, damp knob and entered. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting, not much but this still managed to fall short. Inside the windowless room was a small, dirty, lumpy bed, a desk with three legs and a chair with two and there was no sign of a pillow in sight. Closing the door behind me, I moved deeper into the room and flopped down onto the bed with an abbreviated groan.

When staring at the wall became boring and yielded no entertainment for my frazzled mind I began to attempt to settle in to my new temporary domain. After sweeping the area for whatever unwanted company there maybe, I carefully removed my ribbons from my shoulder and placed them on the desk beside the bed. Just about that time a familiar knock came at the door. I answered it to find Levi leaning against the door jamb.

“Is everything to your liking pretty miss?” he teased.

“It will... do,” I finished lamely. There was a momentary silence.

“We need to talk,” he stated abruptly as he moved deeper into the room, “I want you to know what you're getting into here. Loren is a last resort. He makes Kirin look small time.”

“So then why do we need him if Kirin is so small time?”

“Because sometimes the mouse needs a dog to scare away the cat.”

I frowned; as much as I hated to admit it perhaps Levi was right about the proper way to handle Kirin. However what left me uneasy was the sort of payment such a man would be seeking for his services. They were sure not to come cheap.

“I wouldn't go around here in those skimpy little outfits you like wearing either. Last thing you want some of these men thinking is that you're some shallow, defenseless piece of eye candy I brought along to tease them. Wear your sword on your belt where they can see it and leave those fancy little ribbons here. What's so special about them anyways?”

“They're my... dancing ribbons,” I offered lamely, “I simply don't go anywhere without them. There are other ways to talk your way out of conflict besides violence.”

I punctuated my statement with a flip of my long ebony hair.

“You dance?”

“I've danced for many years. When I lived with the...” I trialed off and simply gently pressed my lips together there was no need to divulge my entire life's story to him; working for Silas had taught me that an element of mystery could be as strong a weapon as any sword.

“Lived with the...?”

“Never mind.”

“What's with the sudden secrecy? You spill the purpose of your entire mission to your target but won't divulge where you learned to dance?”

“It's none of your business,” I said with a slightly defensive tone entering my voice. It wasn't that the answer was so secretive. At this point it was just becoming a simple principle of the matter. I knew nothing of him. Why did I need to divulge anything about me?

“Perhaps not but now I want to know.”

“Tell me where you grew up first,” I demanded, hoping he would retreat from exposing any personal details of his own past.

“I grew up in Swaril. I learned to pick pockets there,” he offered without a moment lost. When I simply stared back at him his hand darted forward as I stumbled over the words for my hurried protest. Everything inside me seized up as I waited for the inevitable occurrence that was to follow.

“Don't touch those!” I burst out, sounding more horrified than indignant to my shame. As he took tighter hold of them I reached out to grab them back. Nimbly, he hopped across the tiny space onto my bed and began running small lengths of them through his fingers as he scrutinized them.

“I don't see what the big deal is about these old ribbons...”

“Just give them back,” I plead, my mind scurrying to calculate where the blades might be.

“Why should I... Ouch!”

The ribbon immediately dropped into Levi's lap as he cradled his hands together. I snatched it up before he could take hold of it again.

“What kind of dancer are you?” he demanded in shock.

“All you need to know is that I'm good at it,” I flung back, trying to keep my irritation contained. He seemed to sense it anyway.

“Okay, okay,” he said rising from the bed and heading towards the door. He muttered to himself as he left. I suppose I could have followed him but I figured he was better off nursing his pride and his hand alone.

Once he had gone I plopped down on the bed and a small puff of dust rose to greet me. I exhaled sharply to rid my air space of it then began my silent, lonely tirade. However, not far into it I began to weary as my muscles and my nerves began to relax. Soon my head was resting on my makeshift jacket pillow and my eyes were becoming heavy. Remembering what Levi said, I slept with one eye open to the best of my ability and my boot knife beside my pillow. I would clean my ribbon sword first thing in the morning was my last thought as I drifted off into a restless sleep.