Two From The Same Net (Ricky)

[Ana Sol Starris]

Spring 54th, 513AV Celestial Square Ana hauled herself down the stairs to eat a meager breakfest and then hobble out the door like an old woman promised to have a great and grand adventure. For Ana, it was only something she could hope for that didn't put too much strain on her body, again, with the sick weak body she had only reminded her of her childhood back in Zeltiva, it was pitiful that she had been bed-ridden for more than just a few days on end, arm put into a sling to tell everyone she was pretty much crippled... and not to mention that mark seared into her neck flesh. She had to be extra careful now, with that petchable mark, or face a death bed. Out the door she went, and with it her step into the streets of Nyka just to get some fresh air, how many days had she been locked in that Hostel? Taking sharp lefts, turns, and right arounds, she searched the Nykan streets for interesting things to see, and other such wonders that crawled around. Ana shimmied against walls as she looked around corners, and stepped light until she found herself in an area she had no recollection of. Grimacing, her fun had wilted, and now she would have to retrace her steps just to make sure she hadn't gone too far from the Hostel with little hope of finding it again. How terrible would that have been if she suddenly just dissapeared without word to Zandelia or Ximal? Hah! Ana shot a hearty chuckle at herself, somewhat sarcastically as well "well if I went here, and there, and turned this way, that way.." she muttered to herself, turning back around and following where she had gone only to get herself even more lost. Had she crossed any bridges? No, not yet, so she had to still be in the same area as before. Ana had no idea, none whatsoever, her worrys growing as did with her increasing lostness; this is just great, just swell, fine, and peachy, what do I do now? Ana grumbled inwardly to herself, face a set frown, as if carved into stone itself, she couldn't believe herself. She had gotten lost. Petch! She cursed inwardly, her mind fumbling with all the different streets she had walked on, all the people so colorfully dressed... Petch them. Ana bet it was because of such colorful attire they messed with her mind and made it almost impossible to find her way back. She couldn't stand such bright colors in the first place, they looked all happy in them, as if life were going great. Focus Ana... Focus... Gotta get back to the Hostel... Gotta. Then I can go exploring more, and this time I will be more careful.. Her thoughts were troubled, being lost.. well.. it wasn't a good thing, especially with the brand burned into her neck many, many days ago. So she went through streets and alleys, passed by as little people as she could, turned a corner and bam- faceplant right into someones chest, or stomach, or however tall the person was. Ana cussed out in pain as her poor arm compressed against his body, and she had to stumble backwards just to avoid crushing the banged up, broken arm from any further. Her eyes watered as she glared at him hot headedly "watch the petch where you're going!" It, of course, had been entirely her fault, but she was in far too much pain to care.

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky walked around plenty today, but that didn't mean his searching would stop now. He had to find Hannah at some point or another, therefore he wasn't going to give up. At some point he would have to catch a break at least, so he could catch his breath and continue the search. He had asked several people if they had seen a red oranged lass like Hannah, and when he went into any further detail the answer always remained the same. No.

Before he could even react a blonde lass happened to bump into him at a quick pace, or maybe the accidental bump was his doing and he didn't know. This happened with his broken ribs as they cried uncle, he winced and couldn't help the low grunt that came from the pain that flared. She too had been

"Aye," he grunted with a painful exhale, "I didn't see ya comin, and for that I apologize." His left hand went to his lower rib cage, the broken part that received direct contact from the collison. He felt guilty having bumped into her the way they did, therefore his eyes were filled with apologetic sympathy.

Since he was in need of a stop now though, he figured might as well make the most of it anyway. "Hey, ye haven't by any chance seen a lass have ye? Red orange hair like fire, lightly tan with a nice bodice?" He figured the hair color would've been enough of a pointer to get him somewhere. After all gingers always stood out that way.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana had expected him to yell at her- the cripple girl, to cuss, and swear at her impudence for pushing the blame on him, but he did not; he apologized for something he did not do, and how hurt he sounded to be only made things worse. It made her feel semi-bad, because it had been her fault, but she wouldn't bother herself over it because she was in just as much pain- what made her cringe was his voice. It was familliar, and heavily accented much like a sailors was, a particular accent she recognized to be from Zeltiva. Suddenly she became paranoid, suddenly she couldn't distance herself from him enough, she shrunk away from him despite his question and the familliarity she felt because of the accent he spoke with, it put her on edge. "No, but..." Ana hated what she was about to do "but... if you're a foreigner, maybe the girl is in the Hostel?" She tried to remember if she saw him in the building "..but I've been here for a good while now, and I haven't seen someone of that profile.. maybe... People come and go..." She inched away from the possibility of a Zeltiva topic, she didn't want to bring it up- nor did she want to talk with him long. How many years had it taken her to kick her own accent into oblivion? She feared staying around him for too long would begin to make her well hidden one shine through. They both seemed to have something wrong with eachother, and she couldn't help but feel slightly curious on what was making him pained? Ana's arm was broken, and she still had a lot of nasty bruises covering her body, though her clothes hid most of the damage.. There was disgusting looking burn mark on her neck, recently done too "...you sound like you got in a fight, monks come after you?" She winced at her question.

[Ricky Maze]

She pointed out in what seemed to be an unsure tone, Ricky let a quiet sigh escape his nostrils. The idea was highly unlikely considering Ricky never encountered her there when he returned, but then again he usually spent his entire day looking for Hannah. Therefore the chances were slim, unlikely as stated before but still a possibility.

"Aye. I haven't seen 'er there durin my stay, then again I haven't checked durin the day." He exhaled like he was in pain, the sharp irritation his lower left rib radiated felt enough to put him on his arse. Then again his trek around the city was likely the cause as well. However she too looked as though she had been through pain, not only had she an arm rested in a sleeve but there was also a mark. A brand bored into her neck that screamed pain. Ricky had lost his brand of shame, but her brand was permantly burned onto her skin. It made him feel sympathy for the girl.

She quizzed him after a moment. Ricky probably looked like he had a bit of trouble breathing due to the discomfort.

"No lassie, just havin a bit o' breathin problem is all. I'm askin cause I'm lookin for a lass by that description, she came here bout a week ago and I have to find 'er." He simplied the truth, yet he still kept most of it hidden away. The things that happened just before she left, the note Ricky found that told her everything. He wanted answers from her of course, but he also wanted to figure out her reason. Why she left was what he wanted to know more then anything, more importantly he wanted to bring her back. Her stay in Zeltiva should be more permanent, the place was better for her than anywhere else.

In short the very reason he stood here now was because of one mistake he wanted to correct. That was enough to keep pushing forward. "Tell ye what though, if ya think she'll be there now, I could do with a bit o' help gettin there. I forgot which way it was suppose to be." This being embarrassingly true, for Ricky had to ask for directions plenty of times just to rediscover its same location, Nyka was just to new and confusing for him it seems.

[Ana Sol Starris]

"Well, petch" Ana muttered, she didn't exactly want to tell him she was somewhat lost in the city as well, despite being there for some time. She had been in a tree top city without any form of streets, or buildings, alleys, and other such normal things in an urban city- she had lost her touch with navigating normal streets. Not only that, she didn't want to give him some sort of false hope, she didn't know for sure if the woman had been there. Ana tried to remember back if she had seen the woman of his description.... Still nothing came, perhaps Zandelia knew? "Naw, I don't think your girlfriend... she is your girlfriend, yeah?.." Ana started off, unsure with how the conversation would still go, she could at least offer him some help in the right direction, "okay, doesn't matter- don't care, don't wanna know," her good hand waved lazily in the air as she began to walk, very much expecting the Zeltivan traveller to follow after her at her own hobblingly slow pace. "But I know someone that might be of some help... Though..." Ana fell off into silence, thinking, her eyes smouldering as she walk tapped her feet against the rocky Nykan streets. Personally, Ana didn't want to bother Zandelia much any more.. She halted suddenly, looking about herself and their location currently- still very much lost; the worry now evident on her face. Now she remembered her own predicament... "Petch, which street.." Ana muttered, there were tons of colorfully dressed people walking about, and she could simply go up and ask them for directions- but to be quite frank, it was the burn mark on her neck that kept her from doing so, not to mention pride. Where the heck are we going, I'm so confused.. I'm just going to end up making him more lost.. Ana thought somewhat forlornly, maybe she should have stayed in the Hostel today, a nice, comfy, albeitly semi hard bed to rest on. Her thoughts began to trickle away from her as her attention span decreased. "I MEAN!" Ana burst out, cringing from her sudden movements before turning to look his way. her scattered brain tendancies shining quite clearly through "...you gotta promise me you won't mention me to her, at all, got it?" She tryed to smile and make the situation seem fine, but it must have been rather forced.. She didn't want to let on that she was lost as well, too embarresing.

[Ricky Maze]

The only reply Ricky could give to the girl was a shrug, he wish he knew what the relstionship between him and Hannah was. Alas he didn't even know where he and Telion was headed, and she was back at home now. Honestly he would've have followed through with the idea of coming to Nyka had she not insisted it. "Ye can say we have a confusin history." He regretted the chuckle that followed, as he winces again from the radiated pain.

The lass made note she knew someone who could help, and thus had obtained Ricky's undivided attention. He couldn't help but observe her when she stopped though, whichled to a mutter Ricky didn't quite catch. There was a small grin on his face then. Though Ricky was quite ignorant at times he was not a fool to notice when someone else didn't know where they were as well. Her outburst had caught him off guard of course, but with the tendacy to smile the way she did he knew all to well. He did the same thing many times for too long last season, forced smiles to cover something we wanted hidden. He was all to familiar with them now.

That didn't keep him from a friendly response though, he just gave a friendly smile back. Though this was forced to try and hide the pain, not the embarrassment. He arched over and planted his hands on his knee's, he still kept his attention on her of course; but the man needed a quick painless way to breath at the moment. The bump from earlier would have a continuous effect for a short time it seems. It didn't matter to him however, it was the in past now and he had the present to deal with. "All right lass, I promise I won't say a word." His breathes were easy, steady as they came and went. At last he was going to get a break, and hopefully he would even lose the pain. It was then something hit him, a realization that he didn't even know who she was. "What is yer name anyway?"