[Flashback]Odd Circumstances (Revy Hiroe)

[Ana Sol Starris]

Taken aback by Revys words, the smaller woman glanced away from her somewhat bashful and surprised but then found herself becoming irritated at the killers words "I'm not that scrunty am I?" Ana replied with a tone of annoyance, she had never actually looked at herself in the mirror for a few years so maybe her image had changed. But to what? To this weak and fragile creature Revy had just described broadly, a child? She was after all saying Ana looked like her sister.. a little sister, Ana corrected herself agitatedly by the fact she too was the youngest sibling in the family. The baby sister of two sisters and a brother, a loving mother and father, who loved her very dear-... Ana halted on that, looking at Revy somewhat depressedly, she couldn't remember if there had been such a thing as 'love' in her household.. Everything about her family was leery in memory "well, alright.. I guess.. Being carried wouldn't be such a bad idea.." Ana caved in, she wondered if Revy loved her little sister very much.. Pondering, thinking, she had a look of dejection to her face. Emotion showed so very easily for the girl, it was almost scary, it was a wonder this 'small, fragile, weak, frail' creature had survived for so long in Sunberth. What would Revy think of her if she knew that Ana had tried to steal from her chimes ago, blood spatters and gurgles filled her mind and she flinched. Spazzed was more like it, her body seemed to constrict inwards as if being stuck by some unseen flying object. Gritting her teeth, tightly pressing her eyes together, she forced the images away as they only made her nervous of the woman further still. After Revy would kneel down for Ana to get on her back, the small woman timidly lodged herself onto her back snugly. Holding onto Revys shoulders, nervously at any sudden movement. When Revy would stand and begin walking, Ana tightened her grip on the womans shoulders but only a few moments after did she relax. Being carried was a nice feeling, she wondered if her older brother had done this, leaning her head onto Revys neck tiredly as she tried to dredge memories up. Nothing came, why would nothing come to her..? Ana thought sadly, why were the faces of her brother, her mother, her sisters and everyone in Zeltiva big blurs.. Faceless heads. Shuddering as a memory of a dream flashed through her head, it had continued to haunt her for an entire season now.. A faceless mans head being chopped off swiftly and suddenly, a mouth pulling open, tearing apart to become a big black gaping hole only to speak words of madness to her in her sleep.. Burying her face, she began to make conversation in hopes of pushing the maddening images away. Could Ana adress this topic? She wondered about Revys sister some more, sighing as she looked up from Revys neck "I don't think I was like this before, scrunty, as you said.. I kinda.. uhm.." She halted her tounge, freezing, could she say it to this stranger? Another topic that couldn't possibly be adressed "well, I'm not exactly from Sunberth and maybe my time here has changed me.. I guess?" Saving herself from blurting out she had in fact, ran away from home, from Zeltiva, from her brother who was probably out traveling the land to far away cities anyways.. Doubt filled her voice, it began to drift to silence "however do I remind you of your sister.." The sentence wasn't a question, it was more of a statement that was unbelievable.

[Revy Hiroe]

The large woman didn't really seem to react to the question at first. Only after she picked the girl up, she replied: "You look weak, you're small and slim so I call you scrunty. Nothing you'll be able to do about it anyway." It wasn't meant as hurtful but it might come across that way for the girl Revy was carrying. "But my sis was like this always as well. Was probably because we didn't have too much food." "First I should have her take a bath at least... there should be a hot spring around here somewhere, but where was it again?", she thought to herself. "Where were the hot springs again?", she then asked the girl after she was done talking, "And yeah, you really do remind me of her. She was a bit clingy and not to mention always optimistic." A prop seemed to form inside the throat of the mercenary as she fought back the tears and the rage over her sister's death. "L... listen, don't ask too much... about her ok? It's really hard on me... she was... quite dear to me.", she said as she started following the directions of the girl on her back.

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Towards the southern hills," Ana breathed with a sigh towards Revys words "not hard to miss with all the steam coming up from the spot," feeling her body heat up tremendously on Revys own body. The hotsprings, for only a few mizas and one could be clean of filth for days if they were lucky enough. Dirt and sweat, as well as blood was hard to avoid in Sunberth though, extremely hard, if you weren't being shoved to the ground then you were being mugged and stabbed at. Around every corner there always seemed to be danger, the mornings, which were sleepy and were much safer than during the afternoon or night. Much safer. While the afternoon seemed to be moderately dangerous, as people were much more awake, they could see around them better. But during the night, thugs had the element of suprise, and Ana hated being taken off gaurd so she never went out while it was dark. Placing a thin chin on Revys neck, Ana contemplated this strange.. Relationship.. Here a stranger was carrying her on her back, as well as had cut a bloke up in front of her, leaning up slightly her voice cracked at the end "I'm sorry if I came off as too bold.." Too bold as to what? Ana cringed and let her forehead fall on her neck, feeling a throbbing sensation press itself into her head. Her own brother? Sin was travelling, he was always off to some new city it seemed.. Though she never exactly knew where. It had been years since she had seen him and his face was becoming rather nonexistant in her mind. How she missed her older brother, when he hadn't returned for awhile.. Ana simply, packed up and left with meager posessions and little money. Thinking perhaps her beloved older brother had abandoned her, had only left her with a book filled with tales of thievery and what seemed to be honor. The pages guided her, from what little experience she had with theft in Zeltiva, the journal bound story gave her the basic knowledge of how to go about things. She learned from its words and practiced accordingly without any formal instruction, stealth, larceny, none of it required a teacher but the book provided simplistic ideas she could perform and thus became her guide to surival. How foolish she was, she had only been surviving by the pure luck of what little skill she posessed. That didn't cross her mind though, she looked back up and found they were partially towards the Hotsprings now. Problems arose, coin, she needed coin, why else would she have been trying to steal from Revy initially? "Uhm.. I don't.. I don't have any money on me.." Ana said a little worridly, biting her lower lip nervously. Why was Revy bringing her to the Hotsprings in the first place? It wasn't like she smelled terribly.. Just the usual Sunberthian scent she had picked up within a few seasons. An oder Ana had gotten use to after living so impoverished in the anarchist city, and she tried petching hard not to get dirty, or bloody. Why, she looked better than the next street rat commonly on the streets, albeit 'scrunty' as Revy had put it.. Though it occurred to Ana that every little street wench looked 'scrunty' to her as well.

[Revy Hiroe]

"I haven't been in Sunberth for a while, so it could have just slipped from my memory... the way to the hot springs that is., replied to the directions. She could feel the girl on her back warming up a little and felt a little happy that the girl seemed to be ok, even if it was just a little. "Wait, why the hell am I caring for her in the first place..... it's not like she's my sister, because she is dead and this girl is alive.", yet even if she thought that, she didn't let go of Ana. "Don't worry about it. You be lucky that you're on my good side. Other people that have asked me about my family usually ended up with broken noses or other parts... well, you know.", the mercenary continued. "I wish I could see her again, that smile of hers. Right now I'm just living my life, trying to find pleasure and fun. Not that it's working well, but that doesn't matter." The heat of the fight, fighting for one's survival was a situation that fitted more with this woman nowadays, as if she was more searching for a place to die, rather then seek happiness. "Don't worry about the money, I'll pay for you. I've had a good contract last time, so I've got a bit of money to spare.", she hid the fact that she actually already had spent over half of that money on drinking. "Oh by the way, you said you weren't from around here, why'd you come to this anarchistic hole of Mizahar? I'm sure a girl like you could live much easier in Syliras.", she asked Ana.

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Ah," was all Ana said to to Revys reply, holding on somewhat awkwardly as she continued to direct the woman to the hotsprings. What an odd situation this had turned out to be, thief supposedly victem ends up turning into be a woman who could handle herself and in the end, gave the thief a bath. Possibly, perhaps, depended if and when they got to the hotsprings in Anas opinion, though the conversation was turning out to be a bit.. Fun.. She couldn't help but wonder about Revys sister, like how she wondered about her brother. Where was he? What was he doing? Was her sister-in-law being treated nicely by her brother? Not like he would lay a hand on anyone in a harmful sense, he was far too kind to do that.. Right? Sometimes Ana wondered, she thought back to the rage he seemed to hold within him that was so carefully restrained, sometimes their father sparked it to come out.. But Gerron was so much worse.. The fights were sparse and far between, Ana believed that they were petty arguments and father and son had made up afterwards with some understanding of each other. Unfortuantly, Ana hadn't payed attention to the next of Revys answer and thus was lost on her ears, especially the part about her sister. Why bring it up when you didn't want to talk about it? Was the only thought Ana had about the musings of Revys sister, but said nothing in reply. Sighing, they came up to the hotsprings soon enough "thankyou, its very generous of you Revy.." Ana started on, with a trail to her voice before starting up confusedly "Whats Syliras?" For the life of her, Ana had no idea what Revy was talking about. Not even glimpses of memory offered her any help in remembering what a place called 'Syliras' was or where, just images of an older sister with black hair "well, I don't know what that place is.. But I chose to come to Sunberth because it was the only mentioned city that I could escape to quick-..." Ana slapped her mouth shut, frantic now, she would have never told that to anyone and here she was blabbing her mouth off to some stranger! Shaking, she didn't want to say anything more, her shoulders shuddered in fear. Why was she wigging out so badly now? Hoping to change the subject, Ana decided to.. Give some compensation for information Revy had passed on "you know I have an older brother, I don't know where he is but hes very nice and travelling around, also some older sisters who I think have moved away from home but I don't remember very well! Hahaha!" Anas words jumbled together too quickly for proper listening, her voice was too shaky, she was too nervous to be speaking reguarly.

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary was able, despite having to carry a girl on her back, to keep a good pace. This led to them seeing the entrance to the hot springs faster then they realized. "Escape? What do you mean...... no never mind. I'm not interested.", Revy said. It didn't sound to truthfully though, more like she didn't want to pry into the little girl's history. "I'm sure you have your reasons. Anyway, Syliras is.... well.... eh... wait, I can't really remember. All I remember is that I shouldn't go there again... at least not with my temperament. Some traders I had protected told me that it's the city of law and order, but that's about everything I know about it." After having payed the fee, Revy led Ana to one of the private springs. She didn't want to go to the common one as she had to remove the straps she used to tie her chest off. She wasn't really looking forward to having men gaze because of that. Entering the dressing room, the human suddenly felt quite opposed to the idea of undressing, but she just had to bite through that. "Well, get undressed. We've got a spring to ourselves for now, so you'd better enjoy it." The mercenary started by removing her gauntlets, followed up by the greaves. "Oh one thing... don't stare.", she said as she unbuckled the straps that held the chestpiece together. After having removed the two pieces the straps, that Revy used to tie off her chest, showed. "I really am an idiot. Why the petch am I doing this.... I still don't understand. Meh, just hope she wont stare at my chest. I hate it when people do that.", she thought.

[Ana Sol Starris]

The city of law and order? Ana could only ponder what Revy meant by that, it must have been a very prestigious, strictly held base of a city. Though, the small girl was glad for the subject change, and even gladder still that they had arrived at the Hotsprings. The small girl relaxed some more, hopefully, she wouldn't have to worry about this subject again in the future, nor the nearest one. Ana followed after Revy and seemed to flounder under the generousity, a private spring? Of all things for the little thief and the other woman? Preposterous! Narrowing her eyes, Ana held them aloft to the stronger looking woman with suspicion, though because she was behind Revy the entire exchange went on, and then walking down towards their private spring. What a treat, it was simply her luck to get a free bath.. Oh how Ana loved baths, especially hot ones, but for some reason sea water made her fidgetty, edgy, heck, she even had to walk and sneak about on foot to Sunberth.. Not able to encourage herself to take a boat to the anachrist city. Revys words were, strung, iffy, seemingly reluctant underneath that hard exterior; Ana shook her head once, thinking it was just apart of her mind before undressing. It didn't take her long to do so, most of her clothes were rags anyhow, her ribs showed, and dirt was everywhere, cuts, bruises and scrapes could be seen along her body from much running, tripping and then falling. It was any wonder how she had managed to survive for so long, she just possesed pure luck, an unknown force guiding her or protecting her. Ana wasn't religious however and took no part in religious acts of ones giving of themselves, that didn't mean she didn't believe in the gods though. How stupid she would be if she didn't, quick prayers, to whoever was listening up above had been the extent of her connections to the celestial. Ana wasn't much to look at, truthfully, her body showed the tell tale signs of malnourishment as many of those living in Sunberth had. Even she could have been compared to a ghost, yet here she was still living, breathing and surviving in the blood ravenous city. Ana looked down at her body and sighed, then to Revys, quickly glancing, comparing, Revys body was toned lightly with muscle, scars were visible, tattoos could be seen, ideal breasts and a curve to match. That was as quickly as she could have taken in with her eyes, everything vague due to such a quick comparison of their bodies. Anas arms crossed to hide her most non-existant chest, she could have been mistakened for a girlish boy if she were clothed. One thing that seperated her from the males, was because she was a female, she had all the lady parts minus the chest (because of malnourishment, though she was never nicely chested in the first place in her puberty years.) With a quick scurry, Ana was plopping into the water with a pleasurable sigh. How she loved baths, Ana looked at Revys face as she got in "I won't stare, why would I?" The small girl asked innocently, quite clearly not understanding the weight Revys request held.

[Revy Hiroe]

Revy slowly lowered her body into the water. The tensions in her muscles seemed to evaporate almost immediately after sinking in. She too had glanced over her companion's body. She felt a slight feeling of jealousy at the girl's almost non-existing chest. "The brat has the chest I'd have preferred. With these I just get a big shoulder ache and the wrong kind of attention from males.", she thought to herself. Seeing the girl enjoy the bath as well, the mercenary gave off a small, but warm smile. She didn't really realize this, but to the other girl (if she payed attention) it was quite obvious. The innocent question of the girl surprised the woman though. "It's just that almost all men always get disgusting ideas when they'd see me without having bound my chest... and most of them don't make for a good sport.", she explained. A brief flash of anger and resent flashed over her face. Revy lowered herself even lower into the bath until she only had her head above the water. "Having large breasts isn't any fun. They're heavy and not to mention that they give me a big shoulder ache. During combat they also tend to get in the way, so that's why I tie them off.", she continued. It was only then that she realized that she, yet again, emptied her heart with a total stranger. Trying to change the subject, she said: "By the way, you should take better care of your body. Especially eating, you need to eat much better then you are right now." She turned her head away as she felt her face warming up with a blush. "Darnit.... this girl..... she looks too much like my sister. Not good, I shouldn't confuse her with Louise. Even if they look so much alike.", she thought to herself as she tried to get her emotions back in control.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana giggled a bit at being told to eat more than she already was, if the small girl had the cash to spend elaborately on food she would have long ago. The ribs which showed themselves from her body, the skin seemed to cling to her, rather than aid in any form of shape whatsoever. While Ana's breasts were flat and somewhat deflated compared to Revys, she couldn't help but think that perhaps her own frailty was from lack of food and that the plumpnest that was of Revys figure came from eating properly. How Ana longed to look healthy again. There was never enough food for her, and while thieving had kept her afloat for so many years, she could feel herself begin to sink underneath the corruption of Sunberth. Quite litterally, she was sinking lower into the water to the point only her nose had enough room to take in the sweet air around her. Eyes becoming somewhat distant as she thought, blinking, once or twice, in a trance, dazed by the previous days events. To Ana, this was normal, to feel as she were on the brink of starvation and catering to sleep deprivation as if it were a noble lord. Blackness dotted the sides of her vision, crawling tendrils wrapped around her vision and to cling eerily to everything she looked at, whispers echoing, calling for her to sleep once and for all. The feeling was serene, but frightening at the same time. The loud piercing growl rumbled its way from her bowels and to wave through the waters half heartedly. Waking the thief up from her open eyed, one or two chimed slumber in the waters, she snapped out of her delusions and back to the realm of the waking. How long had she been asleep in the water? Possibly not for long. Ana felt liquid in her airways, causing her to cough and splutter into her arm, mayhaps she had slid a little too low into the water as well to wake her up? She breathed somewhat uncertainly, feeling her body quiver and shake. What were they talking about? Ana glanced back to Revy, blinking, despite the warmth of the bath, she could feel the cold chill of her insomnia burn its way through her body; ah, yes, breasts. "At least you look normal.." Ana stated off, shakedly "at least you're not me, you.. you.." the small thief didn't know what to say after that, what was she suppose to? She slapped a palm against her eyes, and held it there, rubbing between the nooks of her eye sockets and the bridge of her nose, tiredly, on the edge she felt like she were about to cry "you're not starved. Your body shows it.."

[Revy Hiroe]

Revy loved the warmth the hotspring had. It just seeped into her bones, loosened her muscles and gave her a slow, drowsy feeling. "Oh man, this feels so good. Especially when I can relax like this without having to worry about a contract.", she thought to herself. If she could, she would've wanted to take a dip every fortnight at least. Being able to relax, clear her mind and just soak like this was godlike. Because she relaxed like this, the mercenary didn't even notice that the girl next to her was slowly sinking into the water. She only reacted when she heard the girl cough as she inhaled water. "Oi, don't fall asleep. You might overheat or drown even.", she reprimanded Ana like a little kid. "Once we've soaked for a while, we'll have a good meal and a good rest ok?" But what she heard then did shock her a little. This girl didn't even have the money to afford a proper meal, bed or even a bath. Revy immediately felt sorry for the girl, which resembled her sister so much. "Ow, I'm sorry. Well... Maybe I'll stay for a while longer and get you to gain a little more weight so you can at least find a proper job or something.", she said a little taken aback. "For now you won't have any trouble finding a place to sleep though. I'll make sure you have a good bed to sleep, a good meal each day and a bath each seventh day." Revy just wanted to take care of this kid. She actually still hadn't processed her family's death and now she was using this girl to replace her little sister, who never wanted to be seperate from her.