[The Stone Gardens] A Crow's Harvest [Open]

[Katzen]

Hello there, welcome to the Stone Gardens. I am Dimitri Chenkov, squire to the Syliran Knights, it's a pleasure to meet you milady. The words of the handsome human surprised Katzen. Her golden-green eyes widened in surprised and she could feel a slight, unexplained blush spreading over her cheeks. His voice was smooth as honey as his words wrapped themselves around her mind and settled their like a flock of skittish birds. She smiled at him shyly. Her voice was quiet as she replied, Hello, my name is Katzen. The pleasure is all mine. Her surprise grew and he sank into a bow, locking his icy blue eyes onto hers, and not breaking their stare as he bent forward. What a gentleman, she thought.

He attention was distracted from the handsome Dimitri as she watched the man in the background, the man with the goatee, moved forward, and approached them. He stayed a good distance away, observing the two as an amused expression crossed his face. Something about this man made her think he was wise, and she immediately felt as though he would be an interesting companion. She stored this information in her mind, and let her eyes slide back to the boy still bowing in front of her.

When she had first approached, all she had really noticed was that he was attractive, but now, with him standing before her, she was able to realize he had looks that would rival an angel. His golden curls were the color of sunshine, and his eyes were like the winter sky. She stared in awe at his intimidating beauty before realizing how idiotic she must look, and smiled slightly at him, waiting for his reply.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri watched her begin to stare at him. He gave her a dazzling, brilliantly white smile, "Pardon me if this is a bit forward, however, might I ask what brings a beautiful woman such as yourself to this garden of meditation? I am here solving a riddle, after assisting...," he realized he had interrupted his previous conversation with the man. "Pardon me a moment."

He turned back to the strange man, "Apologies sir, I never got your name." He would wait until he received a reply, and when he did, would turn back to the woman. "Assisting him with a persistent thief. And might I add that Katzen is a lovely name, quite suiting the woman you are." He stood there smiling at the woman, continuing to ponder the questions his master received. How does one choose between loved ones? Or between different strangers? Quite a conundrum.

[Rovan Dermane]

"Rovan Dermane," he answered simply, as his name was asked for. It seemed the young man's charms were working on the girl, her face blushing and body language telling of great admirance to the young squire. It was like watching a noble adress a servant, Rovan thought, as if she was surprised he gave her that divine attention. He gave her a scrounging look. Although the surprise, she had some part in making herself visible. He found her to be luring the young man, if only subconciously. Or was it? Rovan tried to see if there was some ploy behind it, examinating where her eyes went. Could she be looking at some fellow thieves, who were ready to snatch their purses as she distracted them? Rovan instinctively placed his hand on his coinpouch. She did look a bit exotic. He decided to keep up his guard, trying not to reveal too much of his suspecion.

[Katzen]

Katzen felt a shy smile cross her face, her lips parting to reveal her teeth, heat rising to her cheeks as Dimitri beamed at her, his eyes dancing. The dark haired beauty had never had an encounter like this one before, and although she wasn't sure how to respond to the human's obvious interest, she found herself enjoying it immensely. She was definitely in the right place at the right time. Pardon me if this is a bit forward, however, might I ask what brings a beautiful woman such as yourself to this garden of meditation? I am here solving a riddle, after assisting...

Katzen felt like she was glowing from the inside out. Her? Beautiful? She could barely cover up the huge smile that wanted to spread itself across her face. She tried to make it just seem as though she were politely acknowledging his words. Pardon me a moment. Dimitri turned to the other man, the man with a goatee, who both made Katzen nervous and intrigued her at the same time. She glanced warily at the man as Dimitri said, Apologies sir, I never got your name. The man didn't hesitate before he replied in a gruff voice, Rovan Dermane. Rovan, she thought. She looked at him, sizing him up, not sure what to think.

The voice of Dimitri brought her out of her thoughts. ...Assisting him with a persistent thief. And might I add that Katzen is a lovely name, quite suiting the woman you are. Katzen smiled again. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She didn't know if a simple thank you would suffice or if she should say even more. As she pondered over how to answer the handsome knight before her, she glanced at Rovan. His eyes, staring at her, were suspicious, paranoid, and his hand was clutched around his coinpouch. She looked at him in confusion, cocking her head to one side, and arching her eyebrow. What was he doing?

She shook it off, it didn't matter. Katzen turned back to Dimitri, and tucked a lock of long black hair behind her ear. Thank you, kind sir. She said softly. I'm afraid my visit to the lovely Stone Gardens was spawned of loneliness. I was looking for company. And, she finished with a smile, I do believe I've found it.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri could see the woman glancing at Rovan, a man clearly suspicious of her. She looked confused as to how to receive such information. Dimitri knew he had to get in the middle before things grew complicated. A seed of suspicion always grew. "Well it appears we have quite a bit of company here today. Do either of you know the story of this garden?"

All squires were familiar with these gardens and their extensive history. Fallen heroes were abound here. He hoped his question would allow the two to ignore the suspicion of each other and focus on something else. No need for silly bickering or offense to arise. He eyed the pretty girl discretely, enjoying the slight curves of her body. But he found her beautiful hair fascinating. "Would you like to hear the story?"

[Rovan Dermane]

"By all means," Rovan said. It would proove interesting to see how much the young lad knew of history, the scholar thought. Perhaps there would even be some new details for him to learn from this squire - though he doubted it. Naturally intrigued as he was, he chose to dampen his suspecions to the girl, as she appeared far too innoccent for it to be a ploy. Her brief expression of confuse to his scrounging look seemed genuine enough. He directed his attention to Dimitri, awaiting for the young man to tell of his knowledge.

[Katzen]

Katzen's gentle green eyes surveyed the face of the handsome young squire and the harsh-faced scholar before her. With every word the two men spoke, she found herself more and more intrigued, more and more unwilling to leave the humans that captured her attention so easily. What was it about these men that captivated her? Perhaps it was Dimitri's flawless beauty; his eyes the stunning blue of unbroken sheets of ice, stretching across the sea. Or maybe it was the paranoid suspicion of Rovan; a trait that made her wonder what led to his possible slight derangement. She surveyed them both closely, taking in the angles of their bodies and faces, as though they might tell her more about the person hiding behind their masks.

Dimitri's gentle voice broke her thoughts. Well it appears we have quite a bit of company here today. Do either of you know the story of this garden? As a matter of fact, she did not know the story of the gardens. She had never even been to the Stone Gardens before, though she had heard of it's simple beauty. The stories had done it justice. There was a certain grace about the way the smooth rock curved over itself to create statues and benches; a certain texture of pebbles beneath her bare feet.

She looked eagerly at Dimitri, blushing faintly again as his eyes traveled the length of her body. Would you like to hear the story? Katzen locked eyes with him, nodding enthusiastically, a warm smile brightening her face. In her peripheral vision, she saw Rovan relax his position, and turn his eyes to Dimitri as well, his gruff voice uttering, By all means.

Katzen waited happily for Dimitri to begin.