Plodding Through Wares [Flanna]

[Raban]

It had been an interesting arrival to whatever this land was called. Either both he and Ravakla had been knocked out and dragged across the sea and then released or some mage had happened to do the wrong thing yet again, he wasn't sure. The latter sounded far ore likely, but then he wasn't used to magic users being so open about their spell work in that fashion. It tended to bring forth unwanted attention, mainly from the church and witch-haters.

'Why here of all places?' Ravakla moaned, but for all intents and purposes appearing to be steered by her so-called master. Raban was loosely holding the reins. He had it down to an art by now that very few people noticed the difference.

Raban looked between the ears of his 17hh shire, who easily cut a swathe through disgruntled shoppers wondering what business a knight had out to be riding though such a busy place. There was not a chance of mistaking him for anything else.

/'Because I need to know where I am, that's why. Stop asking so many damned questions, will you?'/

She only snorted, tossing her head in response to his petulance. Raban settled for rolling his eyes before something caught his attention. Wares on a stall. With only a little nudge and pull on the reins, Ravakla slowed before it, quite happy to whip her tail around her flanks hitting people in the process. To her, people were generally only good for roasting, dead or alive it didn't matter.

"Anything you see that you fancy, my lord? Something for the mrs, maybe?"

"Hm, what? Oh, no, sorry, just taking a look. Thank you," he returned and the woman just nodded, turning back to where she had been previously standing, but continued to watch him. Like he was going to steal anything. His needs and wants were very simple. He doubted that he had any sort of flair of that sort in him.

He wished he knew where this place was, what land this was, whose kingdom it all belonged to... There were so many questions running through his mind. For the most part, everything looked similar to the places he was used to seeing but there were subtle things that looked out of place. Things he did not recognise.

[Flanna]

Flanna was out today to look for some certain things she'd wanted. Kili had revealed to her his little bit of extra income, and she couldn't have been happier. Now, she had a list and she'd been told to spoil herself--what better way than to go to market, especially when she also had some staples to buy? She looked down at the parchment, laughing a little at her own crooked scribbles. She'd not been attempting calligraphy, clearly. Flowers, fruit, two lockets, ink, parchment, a new blanket, bread, a new dress, food for Talar. Her basket already held some of what she had bought, and she had only a few things more before she returned home.

She placed an inadvertent hand over her stomach as she went, her wedding band sparkling on her fourth finger. It wasn't that anyone could even tell yet that she was pregnant; she was but three months gone. Nonetheless, Flanna was wary of the fact that she had a new life growing inside her, and she was careful. She looked about, trying to figure out what to buy next, and was caught off-guard by a wine vendor who called to her.

Stifling a startled cough, Flanna turned to the vendor and said politely that she was sorry for being so jumpy and that, yes, she would take a small bottle. It would give Kili something new to drink, even if she chose to stay away from alcohol at present. Oh, then again, a small glass wouldn't hurt her, and perhaps they'd drink it tonight. She paid and placed it in the filling basket, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment as she resumed the shell of her former self, so shy and socially nervous. With Kili she may have been open and free, but she was still closed off to most of the rest of the world.

In her haste, Flanna did not realize that she'd walked straight into the path of a man on a large horse, and nearly ran into them. "Pardon!" she said, her face turning red as she looked up to the rider.

[Raban]

Another frequent downside of being what he truly was was that he heard everything at least three or four times louder than the average human being would normally hear at. Not only that, he heard and smelt each voice print and smell print in a distinct identity to that owner. Then, he might not see or hear them for years on end but when he did, he would still recognise the identity without fail It was what made him really good at tracking. He could follow a scent, haunt and hunt places and when his hearing confirmed what his nose told him, he could move in on his target.

He relied a lot on his senses, and Raban knew that Ravakla did so just as equally. A horse might be good at sensing danger or knowing it was lurking bout that was purely from a prey's perspective. A carnivore, an active hunter used their sense more deliberately, with defined intent.

Course, all these sounds and scents were also something of a distraction to him and he was only fortunately that Ravakla was not a skittish creature despite what she was trapped in. She still experienced them, he knew that, but she had far better control of it by now. She was that much of a ruthless creature in mind. In turn, Ravakla took care of her lycan ward, as she termed him, and she did most of of the walking or steering herself. She may let him make the odd nudge to direct her occasionally but she knew him well enough by now to know what he was thinking.

She noted the pregnant female long before any of the two humanoids did, stopping with an irritated snort, stamping her hoof. Except for her 'Little Wolf' humans and other species meant very little to her. After all, she was a fire elemental, a demon that feared nothing and yet, for some reason neither of them had yet discovered, she had been cursed to live in the trappings of a 17hh shire mare.

Raban brought his attention to Flanna and smiled reassuringly, patting Ravakla's shoulder as he did so before leaning forth on the saddle. He thought about it for a few moments before eventually decided the height difference was too meddlesome and so, he stood on one of his two stirrups before his leg launched over his mount's rump and he landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Hello, good lady," he began, he wasn't sure what she was but she was a woman and he treated every individual to the same level.

"No need to be alarmed, Chestnut is harmless... so am I," he gave a deep grin, though with his rugged features, it came it far too feral than he had intended. "Don't suppose you could tell me where I am? It's been one hell of a day, if you get me,"

[Flanna]

Flanna was not terribly busy these days. She still did some writing--she had to or she would go mad--but mostly her days consisted of cleaning, cooking, and taking care of Talar. She hoped that as he got older she would have more time to herself (and with Kili). While she did not mind being a housewife, she liked to spend time with her darling husband, and now that she was pregnant she doubted he would often let her out... hence why she had come to market today. She would be home eventually; he need not worry but she knew him too well to think that he wouldn't. Smiling to herself, Flanna went along and continued to browse the market, seeing all the beautiful wares on display but buying none of them.

She was thinking all the while about how odd destiny was. It was a strange thing that had brought her here, and she often wondered why Kili had been pulled from his land and brought here. But she would never complain. She loved him with everything she was; however, she wondered often what it would have been like had he stayed in his world or had she been there too. Never the matter.

But startled was she when she nearly ran into a man and his horse, and she felt extremely flustered. Ever since moving South to Aledon, Flanna had become extremely introverted and very easily scared. Not around Kili, but within society. Everyone that she wasn't very comfortable around made her blush, and she did not like it but could not help. She looked up to the man and excused herself, and was just about to hurry off when she realized that she was being spoken to, and she could not just bow out of conversation. Her own reputation, with her husband's, was at stake, and she should probably try and be more normal... "Not lady," she muttered. She would rather just be Flanna, but since Kili was a knight, she was a dame. "Flanna, please. My name is Flanna."

The man on the horse was a handsome one, but she did not much think on it. She tried to return his smile, with her face as red as her hair, but did not really succeed. She was terribly unsocial. "I know you mean me no harm," she said gently, adjusting her basket. "Has it? I... Well, you are in Aledon. Are you from another land as well?" She did not realize that she had not made much sense, and clarified with a bright red face, "My husband, too, was pulled from his home to come here."

[Raban]

Raban pulled the reins over Ravaklas's head as he walked closer to where the woman was standing. Her scent was not all that unpleasant though he could smell another man on her which said to him she was probably close to someone in some way. There was a gentle breeze and he found it quite refreshing despite the fact he was incredibly lost, which was not usual for him. It was not something he liked all that much either. Most of the scents around him were strange, foreign, some completely alien to him.

He inclined his head, "Than I am Raban," he returned, knowing he could use some information on what this place was, where he was and the like. Not knowing made him nervous and things tended to happen when he was too nervous for his own good. Ravakla however was nervous on other factors, mainly for his safety. She didn't like the fact he talked to so many people, most of them strangers at any given day. She let loose a snort and pulled on his tunic. He just patted her nose earning himself another snort.

"Another land?" it was a question that was directed to himself than to her.

'I bet it was that mage you beat at chess the other month,' Ravakla put in, though only Raban could hear her in his mind.

"Well, I was on my way to London, crossing through farmland and countryside when everything change into something else entirely."

He was also itching to know when the next full moon was but Raban did not know if werewolves were in existence in this place of Aledon and how the people reacted to them. Not well, he imagined, no sane person would like a raging beast but he was fortunate that for the most times he changed, he was in full use of his faculties.

Ravakla, or Chestnut as she was called to any mortal, stamped her hoof growing impatient with the conversation. She settled for amusing herself with Raban's tunic again.

[Flanna]

Flanna looked at him with something akin to wonder. She was still blushing, probably, and she did not have to feel her fiery cheeks to know. But publicity was not something that she liked, and Flanna would rather just blend in when she was about and shopping for wares. She was just a simple woman, a secret writer, and she did not have much effect on the rest of society. She and Kili lived just outside the city, away from the bustle, and they would, in half a year's time, have two wonderful children. Kili had been recently promoted and she had been made a dame, but did not change anything. That was her life, and no more.

"Raban," she repeated, offering him a small smile. She blushed again, looking at him and trying to ignore that he was one of those fairy-tale looking men. Handsome he may be, but he could never compare to her own husband. "It is nice to meet you, sir. Raban."

She shifted her footing nervously as she looked at him and tried to think clearly.

She heard his former question but it seemed to be a rhetorical one, so Flanna looked down at her feet. What if he asked her more? How would she answer? She'd lived here for her whole life, had come down from the North, but Kili had not. And yet, she had never really asked him what it was like or to explain it. Could she, if asked? And then, of course, she was asked and she tried to stall by thinking, which she did often anyhow.

"London?" she asked. She did not know the place. "I have been here for a while... My husband was pulled from his world by some strong magic, he says. I know of others who encountered the same problem. We have not yet found a way out. I'm... I'm sorry." She flushed again and looked down.

Then did she remember that he had a horse, and reached out to gently pet her nose, calming herself more than the animal.

[Raban]

Raban was quiet for a moment, she seemed to be on the small side at least in personality. That, or she was just very wary and he couldn't exactly fault that sort of thinking. Wariness meant the difference between being alive or dead at times and talking to strangers had that effect. He was fortunate that Flanna was helping him and it meant a great deal to him. It gave him a point in reference. Maybe he could find out directions back home though he had never heard of Aledon before either in the books or in passing.

It was then she informed him of what she knew about this occurrence and he looked down slightly himself. That presented issues. If he was here it meant he was cut off from his Order, and that meant he was really on his own without any backing from a larger organisation. The only solace was that he had not disgraced them by anyone telling them or them finding out what he was. And there was all sorts of ways or reasons why a Knight and his horse would be missing.

Ravakla almost took a few steps backwards if it hadn't been for Raban's voice in her mind telling her to behave. Mortals were something she rarely understood but Raban understood only too well how important it was for her to act accordingly. And from what the Knight learned from his senses about this woman, this lady, was that she was pure. Relenting, the shire pushed into the contact in a gentle way.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," he replied, how could she be? For what reason would anyone have to pull a fire demon and a lycan knight through to another realm with no hope of return. Raban could think of very little. Raban smiled then and it was of reassurance more than anything else. To the innocent and his friends, he was next to being a teddy bear by comparison.

"Are you all right, Flanna?" he asked gently, his head tilting but there was genuine concern on his face. But that was Raban for you. He was willing to help others even if he had never met them before that day had passed. It was just his way.

[Flanna]

It was because of Flanna's past that she was so socially inept. Only one person besides her and her blood relations knew what she had been through, and that was her husband. As a child, she had been the daughter of the most wanted criminal in her land, who was not only a thief but also a rapist and a murderer. She had so long been afraid of both herself and others, because now she knew what humans were capable of and it scared her. That was why she kept silence as good company. And that was why she would rather be invisible to everyone else; she had half of her father's blood within her and worried as to what she was prone to.

She worried about what Raban's reaction would be to the news. On several occasions, she had encountered those who had accidentally found themselves in Aledon, and it was troubling that they kept showing up. What did this mean? That everyone from every world would eventually end up here? So far, very little mischief seemed to have made its way into this world, but there was no telling what could happen if whatever was pulling them in didn't stop. She sighed, thinking.

She looked at him, nodded.

"I suppose," she offered, looking about and still feeling uncomfortable. She sighed and then continued, her voice small. "It's simply troubling. There have been so many misplaced here." She looked to him, searching his face for gods knew what, trying to see something, anything. She wanted to understand what was going on right now, but it was very puzzling. Perhaps she could use it to write later...

The question caught her off-guard, and she stumbled through an answer. "I'm... I'm fine. Just... just... not good... with public." She forged a smile but it was terribly unconvincing. Trying to muster up the personality she showed around her husband was much harder than it sounded. She was so bold when she was not in public, but this was hard. "I'm a shy person," she managed, trying to dig herself out of the hole she'd just dug. She was not good at this, in the least.

[Raban]

Raban knew and sensed that either directly or in part that he was having a negative effect on her. After all, she was probably just wanting to get her list done and hurry back to whatever homestead she was part of. But despite this he was equally glad to have run into her by such accident. He had simply been exploring, trying to work things out for himself but now knowing he was in a place completely foreign to where he was once very used to was something that relief could not quite cover. He may know not what was to be done next; whether he should find out if this was just a different landmass to where England lay or in a different world altogether. Still, Raban was content to be relieved in the knowledge that he nor Ravakla were alone in this strange and peculiar happenings going on.

After all, magic alone was a magical force founded in unknown foundries.

"Then, whilst I am here I will do my best to be of good use," after all, what else was there to be done?

He felt that altogether he might have made a wrong move with his question directed at her about her mood but then he could have hardly helped that. He was genuinely concerned and cared for those around him who were in greater need.

"There is nothing wrong with being shy," he said softly, doing he best to funnel warmth and reassurance into his words but with his face so rugged, marred by years of weathered experience and small nicks in his skin, coupled with a rough voice that was often better used for pure bluntness, it wasn't easy. But, he hoped he managed it.

"Might there be an inn or tavern where I could stay at, with room to board a horse?" he had no idea if they were anything like the places he was used to travelling between but he figured there had to be some place of a bed and a stall.

[Flanna]

Flanna was so nervous she was biting her tongue, and that was a bad habit, because it usually resulted in the taste of blood colouring her mouth. She frowned. Why was she so different around people other than Kili? He had gotten her out of her shell, but the shell always returned when she was out in public, when she was around people that might judge her because of her complexion, her occupation, her anything... She sighed. There was something terrible about being so shy.

She did wonder, though.

Why were so many people being taken from their lands? Sure, if there was some way back, no one knew. But Flanna worried. Aledon was getting crowded. Then again, even if they did find a way back... would she be able to give all of this up to go with Kili? Yes, of course she would. It was just... trivial. "That's good and noble of you," she said, her light Celts accent lilting. "Are you a knight, then?"

But she was beginning to get a little more comfortable here. He wasn't that terribly scary... Maybe there were more good people than she'd thought, for a long time.

"Oh sure," she answered, sarcasm colouring her tone. "Nothing at all. Except that I... I can't... talk to anyone." She forced a smile and looked to him, seeing if she could tell what was going on behind his dark eyes. She did admire that he was a warrior, of sorts. So was her beloved. Those scars were noble, were worth a lot more than money could prove. She had scars of her own now, too, and knowing what they meant, she could understand. "You seem to be a good man."

She did smile. "Indeed there is." She nodded. "Come with me and I will show you where it is... The Golden Inn." She turned quietly and hoped he would follow her.

[Raban]

Ravakla huffed, her impatience growing by the minute, and pulled on his tunic in silent gesture of her mood. Raban gently pushed her face away with an expression directed at that she was being rather rude of this situation. He had to find out from someone what was going on and now it had turned into conversation, which was also important. If he could not get back to where he was familiar then this place called Aledon would have to become his new home. Therefore he had to make friends in all kinds of places. Something he was understanding about, the need was there but he was also rather hesitant at the same time. If he knew someone well, well enough to trust them with his life then would that trust eventually lend him to be able to tell his truth.

No. He had to keep that secret. Even here. Back in where he normally called his home, only select people had known. A couple of friends who had kept it secret because of the nature of their friendship and a few enemies who had kept it to themselves for reasons Raban had yet to explain. Probably as a bargaining tool to get him to bend to their will for fear of what would happen if the whole kingdom found him out.

His head dipped with a soft smile to his face, "Yes, a Knight of the Old Code. My Order goes back a long way into old legend," he replied with soft reverence. Whilst he held a darker side that went against everything most orders stood for, mainly that of the Knight's Templar who were the most patriotic to their cause, he had found solace and enlightenment in being a part of them. His Order had given his life meaning and that meant more to him than all else.

He would be nothing without his Order and it threatened to be the case here. Did Aledon have such orders, he was not aware but from the way she had spoke, they had at least did have knights. still, for all sureties, he would keep his oath and maintain it whilst he was bound to be here in this strange new land.

"Well, you're talking to me, with me," he added gently producing a rather boyish grin before the 17hh shire next to him continued to show her absolutely rudeness and boredom by nipping at his tunic and ears.

"Thank you, your words mean a lot to me," he replied, and he was not lying about that. He was a being of polar opposites, a juxtaposition of what the common people thought to be good and evil. So, the words were always heartwarming even if she didn't know what he truly and fully was.

"Great," he shifted his hold on Ravakla's reigns before leading her on after Flanna, "So, how long have you and your husband been here?"

[Flanna]

How Flanna had come to be so different in separate environments was not only natural, but quite reasonable and simple: Kili was the only person who knew and accepted her for who she was. Otherwise, Flanna was the same as she had always been: introverted, shy, and outside the realms of any sociable circle. That was why she had such a hard time when faced with conversation and now that she was faced with this knight. He was handsome, she'd give him that, but that did not pass her mind. All she thought of was how embarrassed she would be if she should misspeak or misrepresent herself. It was her greatest fear.

He had an impressive title. She showed a slight smile to him when he introduced his standing and felt a little safer. Knights were to be known for their chivalry and their sense of duty. They were protectors. Could she let out the breath she had all this time been holding and let him play that role, so early in their friendship? "That's honorable of you, then. My husband was named knight as well, here in Aledon. I am a dame, but I do not use my title." Her words were coming a bit more easily now, and she noticed the tension lifting from her.

She smiled and a blush lit her cheeks. Looking down shyly, Flanna answered gently, "I suppose so... though this is a bit out of my comfort..." She looked to his horse and could not help but notice how impatient it seemed to be. How odd... Then again, there were odd goings-on all over Aledon. She should know that.

And then something strange came from her own lips. An admission. "Words are my trade," she giggled. "More of a hobby, actually--I--yes." She did not normally tell this to people and it had just slipped. Her writings were always under a masculine pseudonym, and she did not tell. To change topic, she moved ahead and went toward the Golden Inn, leading the way and saying, "I have lived here for almost four years; Kili, however, recently came here--nearly a year ago, I suppose."

[Raban]

Raban was used to meeting different people. It was part of his daily life back home, especially when communities wanted him to slay a beast that terrorised them or to even sort out domestic disputes. He was however a little more unused to the quiet types, they were somewhat unpredictable. He didn't know her but he was very grateful for her help. Whoever her husband was, he was a very lucky man indeed.

"Thank you. I try to be," For all the times he had lost all sense of self and rationality, for all the times he had become a thing of terror and despair, honour was what held him together like powerful strings that bent but never truly twisted apart. Without his code, without his position as a Knight, he had nothing. He was nothing without his code.

She spoke of words, something he never really thought much about. He was educated, that was part of the course as Knight, so he knew how to read and he could write but his hands weren't made for it. "Ah, a wordsmith!" he said, smiling, "I like reading, passes the time in the small hours but as for writing... well, I think my mentor hoped for better," he replied, admiration for anyone who could write with an elegance clear in his inflections. He had problems reading his own scrawl at times.

"Kili," he echoed, it bought his curiosity and he could help but inquire further, "Forgive me, but that's not a human name, is it?" he asked, his curiosity genuine as he followed in step with her to the inn.

"Sounds like you're happy in life, hm?