[Syliras Streets] Suffocation [Open]

[Paige Sieglinde]

89 Summer 510 AV

This evening, the streets of Syliras lay deserted. The children in bed, and the older bystanders finishing up their work before taking a break in the inns, or turning in themselves. The sun was setting, and despite the scarcity of thugs and thieves in the city, the cost of working by lamp oil was offputting, few willing to pay it. What activity remained seemed focused around the inns and taverns, market stalls having been packed up hours ago. Within this emptiness, some people remained, destitute, guards, or simply wanderers. One such person was the runaway child, Paige Sieglinde.

The darkness began to concern her, along with the emptiness came attention. The stares of watchmen were leveled at her as she passed, was there a curfew, or did she really look that suspicious? At first she tried to simply ignore it, listening for the sounds of conversation that an inn may produce, but it got worse. The weight of eyes on her continued until at last, she broke.

Fed up with the feeling, she sought to escape it, dashing into a nearby alley.

[Elhaym]

OOCCan you put a timestamp on this post please? =)

Pain hated it when people watched her eat. Maybe it was because her hands were wrapped in thick cloth and stained with charcoal, and the mixture of the chalky dust and the consumption of food didn't seem to phase her. Who knew. In any case, she sometimes sought solitude in the many curving and empty passageways inside Syliras when she wanted to take a break from the crowds and eat a snack on the move.

She had freed a small square wrapped in a dark green leaf from her satchel, a scrumptious treat if there ever was one. A tal'uma rice cake; delicious! Pain had discovered them recently, and was hopelessly addicted to the organic taste. Her mouth was wet with anticipation, her hands quivering in excitement...

THUD.

An unseen force impacted on Pain's lower body, and she reacted by flailing wildly. "Son of a...!" she yelped, the rice cake going airborne. She grasped at it wildly, but every successive grab simply caused the touched area of rice to squish and crumble. The game of hot potato ended with her delicious treat splattering on the stone floor a few feet away.

Pain slowly turned her head to the small form of a girl, and stepped away slowly. She had been seconds from unleashing a barrage of words not fit for a sailors mouth, but instead she found herself stuttering.

"Err... .... what?"

Why was such a small girl wandering around alone in the streets?

[Paige Sieglinde]

The sound of stiff leather on hard stone resounded throughout the alley, echoing off the encasing walls. The feeling intensified with the runner's panic, pursued by the melody of her own hasty feet. Though there was no logical reason for her flight, Paige remained spooked.

Not daring to look back, the reckless charge continued. One turn, then another, then another, then another. The cadence maintained as she fled, or at least until it met a violent and abrupt end.

As she turned the next corner, a loud crash signaled her stop. The rapid turn had sent her hurtling into another person. Though the other had kept upright, Paige's remaining unbalanced momentum sent her into a tumble. Failing to regain her feet on the roll, she instead lay still for a second before pushing herself back up.

Hearing the confused tone of her unintentional victim, Paige simply gave an equally startled, but polite response as she picked herself up, the phantom pursuer forgotten.

"Ohh...whoops, um, sorry about that."

[Elhaym]

"Hey kid, you gotta watch where you're runnin' off to, you know?" Pain muttered, glancing down longingly at her lost snack. This kid had been seriously in a hurry, and that notion brought a disturbing realization to Pain. "Uh... you're not in trouble are you?" She took a few steps past the young girl, sliding her left foot forward and rising her fists as if someone was about to charge them. What other reason could a child have for actually choosing to run through the alleyways of Syliras? It was a safe town, the safest for sure. Even still, lowlifes would pop up here and there, and if they were to surface you could imagine they might be found in a place such as this. "Don't worry about bumpin' me or ruinin' my snack, just tell me what exactly you're doin' running around like that." Pain said in a low voice. Her speech was informal at best, and with her fists wrapped up and obviously hardened muscles, there might be a few children in Syliras who thought she was a bit intimidating. Then again, most young people didn't wander around alone. She turned her head to the young girl, her face set in a scowl and expectant of an answer. As her eyes shifted over the young girl's features, she became increasingly aware that she may have misjudged her age by a bit. An interesting character, she was.

[Paige Sieglinde]

Oh no...

That was Paige's instinctual thought when the woman in front of her began to ask about what she was doing; it was obvious, taking what was, (even to Paige's untrained eyes) a hostile stance that the sole reason for her forgiveness was the assumption that Paige had been running from something dangerous. As the thought struck her, she turned bright red.

Without a reason that would be accepted, she was simply embarrassed by the whole situation, and attempted to avoid having to answer. "I was looking for an inn, or a public place, with lots of people." all the while walking away from the way she had come.

Technically, this was true, but Paige simply hoped that the woman would be reluctant to take it at face value.

[Elhaym]

Pain loosened her stance, satisfied that there was no serious threat. If there had been, she would have been quite surprised. It was hard to really get involved in anything too terribly nasty in Syliras without the Knight's getting involved. She stood, and shifted her weight onto her right leg, placing her hands on her hips. "Lemme get this straight. You're looking for lots of people, or an inn. In an alley. That's kinda weird, but I take that to mean you're really lost." Pain said, watching the girl as she began to move away. Pain moved forward, keeping pace with her as she walked. "If you need a place to stay for a while, you know, there are a lot of pretty nice spots... you could have just asked any one of those shopkeeps on the main thoroughfare, or even a Knight if they weren't busy. I can show you, if you want. Or, you can... uh... just keep walking away from me. That's kind of shady though..." Pain said, turning her head a bit and squinting at Paige. "I'm called Pain. If you want some help finding your way around, i'll show you. If you keep movin' off like that, then you're on your own."

[Paige Sieglinde]

...Perfect. It seemed like her misdirection had backfired. The stranger had seen right through it, and it was now casting Paige in a poor light. At least the she didn't seem too upset about the ruined food. Sighing, she relaxed. Her voice surprisingly level compared to the previously panicked tone she’d been attempting. The whole deception was just too weird now to keep up. It was time to come clean.

Looking straight at Pain, Paige spoke, crossing her right leg over her left, balancing on it as she did so. “I’m sorry.” As she did, her eyes fell to the ruined food; and for a second she hesitated, not because of the fear of retribution, but because of the guilt that came with the admission. “I…deceived you. I’m sorry about ruining your meal, I’m afraid that I don’t have a good reason at all. It’s just, this city feels weird, I felt watched, and wanted to get away from it.” As she finished, Paige drew her eyes back up, finishing her speech.

“…but yes, I am lost. I just arrived, and I need a place to stay, and a job as well.”

[Elhaym]

"Decieved me, eh?" Pain said, shaking her head and fluttering her eyes in confusion. One thing Pain knew is that the city had felt a bit odd to her as a young woman, knowing the Knights eyes hidden by their helmets were following her as she walked the streets. "Eh, don't worry about the food. Just a rice cake, after all..." Pain said, reaching into her satchel and producing an identical snack. She daintily pulled the leaves free, and bit into the tightly packed rice. "If you need a job, and stuff... (chewing)... why not do what everyone else does and head over to the employment office? If you ain't got enough money for a permanent room, then head to Traveler's Row. You know, it's kinda tough in this city sometimes but this is a pretty damn easy place to live, all things considered. I can show you where that stuff is, if you want. I mean, not as if i'm doin' too much right now anyway." Pain gulped down a huge bite of rice, and offered the last bit to Paige. She didn't say anything, merely stretched her arm out, the rice cake dangling from her fingertips as if she would drop it if Paige didn't take hold of it.

[Paige Sieglinde]

Words were spoken, and the offense forgiven, at least by the victim. To Paige, the situation was surprising. But, before she could think of an appropriate response, the source of contention was offered. Instead of seizing it, Paige hesitated, it didn’t feel appropriate, until she noticed the precarious state seconds later. She reached out, taking hold before it fell. Looking at Pain, she forced her features into a smile while speaking. A reaction not just to the offered food, but also to the earlier statements.

“Th-thank you. I’d appreciate that, but are you sure that you’re not busy? Are you sure that you don’t want this?” Paige said, brandishing the remaining fragment of uncorrupted rice cake. “I really don’t want to be a burden. If you really aren’t able, I’m sure I’d be bound to run into the right places eventually. But if you’re certain, I’d really like that. It’s my first time away from home, and I don’t really how to go about this thing.”

As she spoke, she also stepped closer to Pain, along a nearby wall. As she did so, her free hand struck the stone building, the solid material producing a faint, and barely audible tap. With the other, she mirror’s Pain’s earlier offer, extending the remaining rice, an offer to take it back if she really wanted.

[Elhaym]

Pain snatched the rice out Paige's offering hand, greedily inhaling the remaining rice and discarding the thick leaf it had been packed in onto the ground. For a teenager, this girl had an odd mixture of timidness, manners, and rudeness. Timid was obvious, she seemed scared that Pain would lash out at her that she was too busy to speak at any moment. The manners, of course, because she actually cared to ask. The rudeness? Pain had introduced herself, and the girl had ignored it, offering up more stuttering and stammering instead. Pain waved for Paige to follow and began walking towards the end of the alleyway. It exited onto the one of the main streets of Syliras, though Pain always thought it was odd to call a pathway inside a castle a street. Despite her contest, that trend seemed to be steadfast among the citizens of the city. She looked over her shoulder a time or two make sure Paige was keeping up, and began to speak as they met with the bustle of the crowds on the main thoroughfare. "I told you, I don't mind. Look, kid. If you head down this way, you'll eventually come to a sort of Y in the path... road, whatever. Anyways, you take the left, you walk some more. Pretty soon, you start seeing Knights everywhere. You're gettin' on to the right spot, then. That's where Traveler's Row is. You can stay there for a while, if you got some mizas anyhow. Oh, and right down the road from that you're gettin' on to the main entrance of the city. Pretty hard to miss the employment center. I mean, they got signs up and everything. Just don't be a little shyke and run off again, walk up to one of those big armored fellows and ask for directions. They may be a little irritated, but you're pretty young so they probably won't hassle you much. Hey, if you grab the right one, they might even walk you to it. Alright?" Pain said, slowing to a halt in the busy street. The Y intersection she had spoken of was visible in the distance, and she pointed her thumb in that direction. "If you can't find your way, then I don't know what to say." Pain snorted, seeming to almost get annoyed at her unintended rhyme. She half expected someone to walk by and mention that she was a poet and didn't even know it. Gods, that was so annoying. "One last thing. You never told me your name. Now, I still think you're a little shady, but if you trounce out of here without lettin' me know who you are... well, like I say, thats sort of... suspicious." Pain let a little uncertainty bleed into her last word, almost as if she was accusing Paige of being a spy or a thief.