Lost in the streets (Rhuryc)

by **Airil** on September 20th, 2010, 3:09 pm

20th Day, Fall 510 A.V.

Airil was standing at a crossroads, though not in a figurative sense. She peered up one road and down the other; her anxiety mounting by the minute. Her day had started off well enough, having finally drudged up the courage to leave her room with the intention of visiting the Great Bazaar.

It had been easy enough to locate, but as she had grown closer, the great noise and the many people it implied had unnerved her. The city was a crowded place but the noise from the Bazaar sounded more densely packed, even from a distance. Without intention or direction, she had walked away and now, she was lost.

She knew that she could have asked a knight for help. Even now, though none were in sight, she knew one wouldn't be far away. She chose a path and walked on. The hood of her cloak was down, though her right eye was still obscured by hair, a pale cloak for her more distinct Konti features. The rest of her was hidden by the cloak, which looked to be a bit too big for her.

It had taken a great amount of inner debate that morning to decide whether she wanted to move about the city with her hood up or down, though she didn't like the curious looks of other, in the end she had decided it was better than incurring the more intense scrutiny of the knights if they were to decide she was being suspicious.

Her wish to avoid the knights certainly didn't help her now that she was lost. She wasn't sure she'd be able to hide her distress for much longer.

So Airil walked on, so intent on discovering some clue that might lead her in the right direction that she failed to pay attention to any people that might be about.

by **Rhuryc** on September 28th, 2010, 2:16 pm

Solemn. That was how Fall felt.

Rhuryc both loved and hated Fall. The weather was perfect, cool, with all the right patterns and smells; soft breezes, gentle nights, the transition to winter was when he thrived. Yet it was a season of foreboding. It was always fall that Rhuryc found his life tarnished. Wounds were opened and memories never ceased to haunt his dreams, images of violence and misdeeds that plagued him from so many years past. It was for this reason that he wandered without intention. His path started at the gate, his habitual hang out, and from there he had covered a large portion of the city. The streets were well known to him, all the paths and secrets alight in his mind as he walked. Often he would surprise even the other locals with his queer traveling habits, appearing in causeways where he should have been on the other side of the city. So much of a fuzz was he in that when Rhuryc passed through the Bazaar he did not notice. His body twisted and turned passed the throngs of men and women, circumnavigating merchant and customer alike in his wandering stupor.

He came upon Airil without a great deal of forethought. His eyes were downcast, watching the ground without seeing, his hands locked in the pockets of the thick, leather coat that adorned his upper torso. Whether it was the lack of attention or the fact that his hair had grown to great enough lengths to obscure his vision, Rhuryc did not see the Konti. Not until he felt her. She was small. More than a foot shorter than him and weighed half as much. The two came together in a collision of unequal forces, Rhuryc's girth and muscled structure not one to yield without a fight. Without realizing it the man tensed, but he came to a quick stop, a brow raising as he lifted his head to the one of which he bumped. Perhaps inadvertently tackled. Unaffected by the clash, the man glanced down with a quizzical stare.

A woman. Of course it would be, but not so much a woman as a girl. That definitely made him feel better. Or not. "Ah. Sorry." Rhuryc spoke, his thick baritone just audible over the mass of passing traffic.

by **Airil** on September 28th, 2010, 9:48 pm

At first, Airil thought she had run into some immovable object, a pole or maybe even a wall. She was lost and now she'd made a fool out of herself in front of who knew how many people. Her cheeks were beginning to burn and she could feel the sting of restrained tears.

Then, the object spoke. Airil looked up from the ground, the force of the impact having been more than her little body could withstand. Her cheeks blazed. She'd run into a person! Airil scrambled to return to her feet, an action that her cloak made problematic. She tried to compose herself well enough to deliver an apology.

His words dawned on her before she could get out any of her own. He was apologizing? Hadn't she been the one rushing around without looking properly?

She began to really look at him. He was so tall, though it seemed to her that everyone in this city was some kind of giant. She could understand why he may not have seen her. He looked like he may be a knight, a fact that made her slightly nervous, except that he wasn't wearing the standard dress of a knight, nor had she seen a beard like that on any of them.

She needed to correct him, it had been her fault but she was having a hard time getting her mind to calm enough to think of what words should be used. It hadn't been long after discovering she was lost that Airil's heart had started its nervous fluttering, a feeling that was often accompanied by a kind of internal shaking. They were common symptoms when she was stressed but it was only now that she realized she was full out trembling.
Airil tried to make her own apology but unlike Rhuryc's voice, her own did not carry over the noise of people.

by **Rhuryc** on September 29th, 2010, 11:55 am

Was she talking? Rhuryc watched with a confused countenance as the girl's mouth moved but he heard no words. Had he not been surprised by the contact he would have offered a hand, but now he was not so sure that he should even pretend to touch her. The girl was trembling. Even beneath that cloak he could see her boy shake - was it in fear or was she wounded? Concerned, and feeling guilty, Rhuryc glanced about at the mass of traffic that made its way into and out of the bizarre. Too loud. With a grunt, the man turned and pushed an arm out to the side, forcing a few of the bystanders back with a forceful shove. With his size most of the common folk tended to give way, and this was no different.

"Here. Come this way. I can't hear you." Bold and to the point, somehow the man's voice was still clear over the buzz of the city. With the assumption that the girl would follow him, Rhuryc offered her a hand and started his push into the crowd. He was experienced at moving people. When someone deemed it not in their best interest to part, Rhuryc would gently remind them that he was stronger, pushing and maneuvering his way through the throne like a plow over a fresh crop. All the while he kept a vigil over his ward, at least that was what she felt like, ensuring that she neither ran off or got lost among the people. She was a foreigner, that much was obvious by how she handled herself in the walls.

After several moments of aggressive travel Rhuryc lead them into one of the many causeways of the city where the noise grew dim. Rhuryc allowed his guard to drop and he leaned back against one of the cool, stone walls. "Are you alright, miss?" He asked, concerned.

by **Airil** on September 29th, 2010, 1:42 pm

Airil followed Rhuryc in a daze. If she had been in her right mind, Airil would not be following this man, but the stress, the people, his assertive way, all of it crushed in on her mind and made her passive. For all her years, she was just a child clinging to a strong will that might lead her out of the overwhelming situation she'd gotten herself into.

Traveling through a crowd this way was not something Airil had ever experienced. Granted, Airil avoided crowds whenever possible. Usually, when she was forced to use a main thoroughfare, she would allow it to carry her as if some sort of wave, never resisting its flow. Yet here they were tearing their way through.

At last they broke through the edge of the crowd and left it and its noise behind. She could still hear the people, there was no way to fully escape the noise of the city without leaving the walls, but it was finally quiet enough that she could begin to collect herself. She didn't lean against the wall so much as fall against it, taking a few moments to just breath and drink in the quiet.

At the question, she just nodded. Her eyes blankly looked through the wall across from her. The fact that she was alone with a strange man, not another soul in sight, took a minute to dawn on Airil. Her calming nerves fired back up and she moved away from the wall, not wanting to be in such a vulnerable position.

“Thank you for...” she wasn't sure what for, she was certainly glad to be out of the crowd but now she was even more lost. Then it dawned on her that she was supposed to be apologizing after running into him. Her eyes went wide and the nervous energy contorted her face into a look of concern, “Oh no! I'm sorry that I ran into you! I wasn't watching where I was going! I,” she looked around and her voice grew quieter, “I was lost.”

She wrung her hands together in what looked to be a painful gesture.

by **Rhuryc** on September 29th, 2010, 2:33 pm

Rhuryc was amused. The girl was silly in her way, first demure than nervous once again. Was she backing away from him? He grinned at the gesture. Had the situation been reversed he was not so sure he would do any different. More than a foot over her in height, the fact that Rhuryc also carried a sword on his belt did not help to ease the situation. If he wanted he could do any manner of things to this girl, but not before she screamed. And then? Well, the Knights did not look kindly upon crime in their city. Albeit, Rhruyc had no intention of anything that would dishonor himself. She was just a girl.

"It's alright." He said, his hands shifting the pockets of the long, thick coat that adorned his torso. The old, ragged leather was stained with sweat and blood, creased at almost every inch as if it had seen better days. A few scuffs marked where a few duller blades had been turned aside. It was clear that this man was some kind of warrior. "In truth I wasn't paying much attention myself, I thought the situation was turned." He offered her a bashful grin, his countenance easy to portray kindness.

"I figured you were a foreigner. Locals can all talk through the noise. You need help finding anything? Least I can do for knocking you down."

by **Airil** on September 29th, 2010, 4:27 pm

Airil's ever present emotional roller-coaster brought her back down again as she realized that neither of them was in the wrong. The thought that she might be in any danger had completely passed through her mind and had yet to return. He wasn't making any threatening moves despite the imposing figure that he was. She honestly still hadn't noticed the sword he wore, her mind too scattered to take in all the details yet.

She was starting to notice the wear and tear to his clothes however and she wasn't sure what to make of it all. It had been a long time since she had traveled with her mother. She only vaguely remembered meeting a large variety of people back then. During her days in Ravok, which she remembered far better, she had met very few people and most of them had been highly polished. To her, the spots of blood were no more than just stains and the scuffs just made the clothes seem well worn.

She didn't hold it against him. Her own clothes were well worn after the long journey from Ravok and were never meant to fit her anyways. Her cloak practically swallowed her and featured a few tears that she hadn't had the means to mend, not to mention that fact that she'd had to rip the fingers off her gloves with a dull knife. She'd only managed to get her hair back in order because Matilda had decided she couldn't allow Airil to go around looking like a complete 'ragamuffin', as the Konti woman had put it.

Airil's first reaction to his offer of assistance was to refuse. She didn't want to be a bother. But a moment of thinking it over changed her mind. “Could you point me in the right direction for Traveler's Row?” She could at least ask that much.

by **Rhuryc** on September 30th, 2010, 2:57 pm

Even if she had refused Rhuryc would not have listened. As of late he was like an unofficial guide to the city, finding foreigners in almost every nook that had no idea where and how to navigate the busy streets. In a way he liked the task. So far it had only lead him to new acquaintanceships, maybe even a friend or two, and despite his sour mood he was not about to ignore his self sworn duty. Or he could always just take her to a Knight. They were much better at this sort of things.

"Point? That won't do you much good. Most of the roads aren't straight, and you're bound to hit a bend that'll take you right back to where you started." Rhuryc grinned as he spoke. "I can take you to the office. Owens should be there about now, just make sure you have the coin; they're stingy about payment last I heard."

With that the man pushed himself from the wall. He motioned for Airil to follow him as he made his way back to the exist of the causeway, his eyes shifting over the crowds as they went. He moved slow. When they struck out Rhuryc placed himself between the Konti and the traffic, utilizing his massive girth to keep them separated from one another. Most of the bystanders were most willing to allow the blacksmith pass, either out of courtesy or fear; whichever it was the act made the trek a less horrendous venture. The duo's own route was twisted. Like a maze, the buildings wrapped around bent streets that more oft than not doubled back on one another. They crissed where they should have crossed and went down when there was only up. Nevertheless Rhuryc navigated them with a keen expertise, ducking from one street to the next in an unyielding display of the city's core.

"What brings you to the city?" He said as he took a corner, turning out into another of those hidden alleys.

by **Airil** on September 30th, 2010, 5:25 pm

Airil blinked and hurried after him. “But I already paid,” she stammered.

It generally wasn't hard to keep up with Rhuryc but as they went she found herself more disoriented and confused. Up, down, cross a street, push through a crowd. She couldn't even keep track of what direction they were headed. In one frightening moment, she was almost separated from him but jumped forward to clutch at his coat at the last second, after which point she did not let go. She vaguely wondered if he might intentionally be trying to confuse her, but she'd already been lost before so what could the point have been.

She wasn't exactly sure how to answer his question and she was terribly distracted by their meandering route.

“I didn't know where else to go,” she answered weakly. It was a little too honest but then she didn't know what else to say and she had no practice at lying. She couldn't have just ignored the question could she?

For whatever reason, Airil had put a certain amount of trust in this stranger. She hadn't been doing very well on her own, so why not?

by **Rhuryc** on October 1st, 2010, 1:54 pm

Rhuryc continued their venture, but he noticeably slowed when Airil struggled to keep up. He kept a close eye on the girl, ensuring that she neither strayed nor disappeared. When she answered his question he did not find it strange. Most foreigners had a similar reason. The city was safe. Between the Knights and their laws it was rare for someone such as the Konti to come to any real harm, especially under the watchful gaze of the citizens. The people of the city had a way of paying homage to their protects; and Rhuryc was very much the same. Besides, helping the girl just felt right.

"Did you run into some trouble outside the city?" He spoke as they moved, turning yet another corner to emerge out into a suitably less crowded street. The noise from the markets had almost entirely dissipated. "Inside the walls may be safe, but the patrols can't get to everything. Traveling without a blade is a fool's errand these days."

Rhuryc came to a stop with both his legs and words. He motioned to the street ahead, the square, squished buildings on it queer in their design. "Here you go. The Row."