{M} Seekers of Village Vengeance. {Oddysen & ScottishGal}

[Oddysen]

Alick lay crying for several long minutes more before the sound of arguing outside brought him out of it. He still felt like crying, but he felt forced to collect himself, should the situation escalate further. He could hear the cranky old crone at the counter shouting something, and it didn't seem to have exactly calmed things down. When the condition intensified for a short burst, he sat up on the bed and was about to get up and see if he needed to help, but then it quickly calmed down. Alick could faintly hear a guy shouting "Hey, why are you arresting me too, he's the one who..." the rest inaudible through the other noise. Part of Alick wanted to just keep crying, but with the moment gone, and his facade back up, he ended up not doing it.

He looked back at Fia, who seemed a bit distant, but otherwise fine. Part of him admired her fortitude, but he was growing increasingly worried she was merely good at bottling stuff up. She'd had a reaction earlier, but compared to him, she'd hardly cried at all. Alick was a bit ashamed of that, but even so, his was a fairly natural reaction, wasn't it? After a short moment of deliberation, he decided to act on his hunch. He reached over, resting his hand firmly on her shoulder. "Hey, you can cry too, you know? Won't think less of you for. Promise."

[Scottie]

The water floated around them, dancing to music neither could hear. Voices broke her concentration, sounded like a shuffle of sorts. She sighed deeply and the droplets of water spun together into a large ball before separating again. It seemed like a waltz. She felt his hand on her shoulder and his words brushed her skin. Yes she could cry too....It was nothing to do with his opinion of her. But more...what they had time for. She let out another small sigh and lifted her head to see him. "I am fine Alick. I promise you, I am absolutely fine." The water droplets moved to kiss her cheeks as she sat up on the bed. "What is making me frown...is trying to figure out our next move? W..We can't stay here. We can't go home...Where do we go?

[Oddysen]

Alick could see that there was more to it than Fia was letting on, but he doubted pressing the issue would do much good. Instead, he considered the question, while half mesmerised watching the water dance. They might be able to stay in town longer, but it'd require Alick and Fia getting jobs fairly quickly, and Alick didn't know much that was relevant to city work, and he didn't think Fia did either. So, the best thing to do was to leave the city. But that was far from ideal too. But better, in the end, he supposed. Sighing heavily, Alick answered as best he could. "I suppose we should leave town, try to find a farm or something that'd take us on as farmhands. We'd have food and housing at least." He deflated slightly as he continued "But that's basically just giving up, isn't it? We'd be no more able to do anything as farmhands than we are now. But what else are we supposed to do? Won't do any good if we starve either."

[Scottie]

Fia wrinkled her nose gently and the water split into smaller bubbles. Dancing around her skin as if to comfort her. Leave town. Farmhands...that's all they could do. "I...I guess so. I mean we can't stay here. We could always go down to the market...Farmers will go there to sell their wares. We could see if any will take us in." She turned her attention back to him and gifted him a small smile. "I think we should get out the room...Might help get our mind off things." Fia slowly pushed herself off the bed and with a flick of her fingers, the water moved to drop into the bowl near the door. She sorted her hair, tugging it back up into a small bun. If they managed to nab someone at the market, then perhaps they could catch a ride back to a farm...or even just someone to lead the way. Better than aimlessly leaving the city and hoping they stumble across a farm. Fia glanced back at Alick as she sorted her dress, "Shall we?" She asked him, extending her hand to him.

[Oddysen]

"That sounds like a good idea." Alick said as Fia got up from the bed. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, making sure it wasn't too tussled and straightened his shirt. When Fia offered him her arm, he took it and smiled gently at her. "Yea, lets." He walked with Fia out of the inn, and out onto the market, ignoring as best he could the unease and lingering sadness he felt.

[Scottie]

Fia paused for a moment and fixed his hair. It was obvious to anyone who had walked by that he had lay down on one side and she shook her head softly with a small smile. "There...much better." She tugged him from the market and let her body lead her somewhere. The market place was still full...it surprised her. At this time back home, the market would be emptying. Most of the women would have done their shopping for the day and only the younger folk would be out trying to catch some deals. Fia was always on in the mornings, able to cope with the chaos whereas her mother went on in the afternoon. Music seemed to trickle through the market, caressing their skin as they got closer. A few stalls nearby looked as if they sold the sort of food that was common at their home. Fia chewed at her bottom lip as she stood there, watching the three stalls. "W....What do we do now?" She asked him, her voice small as she was truly doubtful about their next step.

[Oddysen]

Alick smiled sweetly when Fia straitened his hair for him, a bit embarrassed he hadn't gotten it properly; like he thought he had.

He let Fia led him through the market area, and silently let his eyes wander across the market, looking for someone looking like they were looking to take on helpers. The market was full of people and music, but Alick struggled to be impressed by it, his mind occupied with other thoughts. When Fia asked him what to do, he sighed lightly as he answered honestly "I honestly don't know, darling. I guess we just start asking around."

Alick stepped up to one of the stalls and was about to ask when a conversation at a nearby stall distracted him
"...So, they just left?"
"Yea, moved up into the mountains."
"What a waste, two great mages like that."
"Yea, made the noble folk furious too, which never benefits us small folk"
"Aye, nothing good ever comes from angry noble folk, that's fer shure."


By the looks of her, Fia had overheard it too, Alick tried to keep his excitement down, but maybe this was what the chance they needed?

[Scottie]

Fia hated how helpless they felt. She had never truly felt like this before. At least with the spiders before her, it was an obvious threat...now it felt pathetic. Her eyes picked up a young couple who were packing up their stall when words drifted to her.

Something about mountains...mages. Her eyes went wide and she snapped her gaze to the owners of the voices. She cared little for how blatantly she was staring. Fia felt like the universe was gifting them another chance. A tiny piece of hope. Her fingers gripped onto Alick's arm and she tugged his shirt harshly, though she knew he had heard them too. "W...We could get help from them." She said bluntly though from how his eyes lit up, she knew he was thinking the same. "E...Excuse me?"Fia called out after one of those speaking and was met with a frown.

"I'm closing up luv." The gruff voice passed her over as he continued to pack up the little apples and pears he had left. "I know that.. I wanted to ask about those mages you were speaking about?" Dark eyes narrowed as the older man glanced over the two. "Why you two wanting to know about them hm?" Suspicion echoed in his voice, he would not give out information easily it seemed.

[Oddysen]

Alick was honestly quite surprised at the man's reluctance to speak on the topic, as he had been chatting freely about, out in the open moments ago. However, he quickly realised that maybe the nobles, clearly displeased with the mages, a concept that still rang very strangely in his mind since nobles and mages were synonymous these parts. Maybe they feared some form of retribution from the nobles, or feared to bring trouble to the rogue mages? In what he hoped was a calm and reasuring voice, he answered. "We're in dire need of some help, and the guards and nobles turned us away, barely bothering to hear us out. Threw us out like we were vermin, they-" Alick, his voice tinged with anger and sadness at the end, trailed off. He took a second and a deep breath to collect himself before he continued. "If there's even the slightest chance these mages would agree to help us, we have to find them and ask. Even if they'll probably turn us away, like the nobles and the guards, we have to try. I-- I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try." Alick did his best to hold his composure, but barely got the last few words out, and was on the verge of breaking into tears.

[Scottie]

They didn't look like Nobles. But they were not familiar faces...and perhaps they looked too eager. Fia let Alick respond and watched the furry eyebrows of the older gentleman knit together. The two before him sparked curosity within his old bones. Something about them seemed off but he couldn't place his finger on it. Their accent was not from nearby...and they looked rather drained. Their clothing was patched and though they tried to clean themselves, a thin layer of dirt clung to their skin and clothing. An eyebrow shot up with Alick's comment on the guards, with the anger that laced his words. The stranger disliked the guards just like they did. They always stole his best produce before he even entered the city, saying it was a requirement. He knew how much of a bastard those guards could be. Help them. His dark eyes flicked over Alick, the man looked about ready to break down.

"Help you...What do you need help with?" Fia flicked her eyes to Alick before speaking. "Our village...was overrun. We need help getting it back. The guards...they want to let it fall. They think it would be too much effort...they don't care." Her hands slowly curled into fists and the stranger noticed. He sniffed gently before responding. "Right. I hope by the time you reach them...you have your story sorted out." Fia felt her shoulders tense up, was he refusing to give them the information...or was he giving it to them? "They went past the second peak of the closest hills. Towards the blue forest. I think one of them gets something from it..I don't know...Nor do I really care. You'll know when you get close to them...trust me on that." He gave them a final scan over and returned to his table. He had given them as much information as he could and he was running late already.