Some Things Are So Transparent . . .

[Anonymous]

"Karei, wait . . ." Kyo stretched his arm out and took a hold of his companion's wrist on the first try, pulling her back against him and wrapping both his arms around her to keep her from going anywhere. "Don't go in that village just yet," he spoke softly against her ear as he rested his chin upon her right shoulder.

Karei squirmed in protest, not too pleased with all the delaying Kyo had done on the way here. They were just outside the village, it was only a few more steps and they'd officially be in Adela for the first time. It was hard for her to really understand what it was like for him to be blind and live through with it. To her, it was astonishing that he was able to keep up with her the way that he was, and that he was still as independent and thickheaded as ever. Even more astonishing the amount of faith and trust he had been placing within her hands for almost a decade.

They knew that Hibana and Hisae were already ahead of them. Far ahead of them at that. Those two were probably sitting back and enjoying themselves; mocking the slow progress that Karei and Kyo were making. Yet to commend them on their determination to keep up with the siren and the mage. They were a true hope to Kyo, and he appreciated them. It was Karei who was skeptical about the two awkward women.

"C'mon, Kyo. We can't keep fallin' behind like this," Karei grunted as she ducked her way out of her best friend's grasp. She turned around and watched his face sadden a bit. He always made it evident that he wanted to be able to see again -- more than even Karei wanting him to be able to see again. It was tiresome having gotten to know those bright green eyes of his and then have to stare at the eyelids that now kept them covered.

"Hibana can wait . . ." He finally said, crossing his arms over his bare chest and wrinkling up the brown cloth vest that he wore. For a blind man, he was well built and muscular. Even if he were hindered by his lack of vision, heavy damage to anyone could be dealt. But he was a gentle soul with the love of stealing people blind while being blind.

Karei let out a painful groan. "I know she can . . . It's Hisae that worries me." A sickened grin smeared it way onto her expression before she took a hold of Kyo's hand and pulled him along into the village.

Kyo's free hand played around with her long black hair, snagging a hold of collar of her dress that dropped down to the middle of her thighs and accidentally pulled it up a bit as he went about playing with her hair. Karei's face turn bright red, a few giggles from some children off to the side. Her eyes closed and he eyebrow twitched a bit as she kept leading Kyo along, listening to his next question.

"What's everyone laughin' at, Karei?" he asked, completely unaware. She refused to supply him with an answer and continued walking like everything was sunshine and daisies.

[Anonymous]

[lol XP i couldn't help myself from replying]

MALACHI & NEKA: The Twins

The two fay boys grunted and laughed, a playful banter between the brothers as they balanced each other out. Neka pushed against his brother, making them stumble and twirl in an awkward tango. Before they knew it - they were nearly tripping over quite a few people. Malachi coiled an arm around Neka's neck loosely, digging his knuckles into his brother's cropped gold locks and smirked triumphantly.

They were identical, both bore deep gray eyes and tousled, cropped golden locks. And so, they were like mirror images of one another, clutching and laughing as they suddenly realized they were in the proximity of two other people. A girl and a man. They blinked, loosened their grips on one another, glanced between eachother, looked up again and smiled in unison, their voices meshing together.

"Hello!" The brothers chorused, grinning like fools as Malachi slowly released Neka, recieving a knuckle-punch in the shoulder.

TOKALA: The Sly Fox

He watched the boys fool around with a deep chuckle but turned his attention to a food stand to use his charisma. He smiled and brushed back the tendrils that obscured his rusty colored eyes. He grinned and leaned over the table, tilting his head and began to work his magic.

"Hello, m'lady..." he stated.

ILITHYA: The Baby-Sitter

She glanced, huffing, as Tokala went to flirt to acquire an apple. She glanced as her friends made some new acquaintances and she was stuck to fix up their shack of a house. If you wanted to call it that. Living with those three boys was harder then they made it out to be. She sighed and wiped her dirty hands along her apron over her skirts, her sleeves pulled up as she knelt down in the garden again, random stray strands obscuring her eyes. Fays, she and those twins were supposed to be. Magic was supposed to be in their blood... And look at them! She was wrist deep in dirt and they were goofing around, playing like fools.

[Anonymous]

Karei tried to make an escape as the two boys approached her and Kyo, but yet again it was another hold up and Kyo was interested. He tugged hard on Karei's hand and pulled her back, a grin on his face as he heard the boys greet them. Though he couldn't see them, he could tell that there was something in common between the two of them other than the fact that they were related.

By now, Karei's face was bright red and her dress was finally allowed to drop back to its normal length as Kyo anxiously began tugging on her arm with both hands like a small child. Sometimes she wondered who was the older one out of the two of them, and couldn't help but remember again the stinging burden that had been placed on her gentle giant male of a friend. He had the right to be interested, it wasn't like he could look at the boys and zoom on by without examining the situation with all his senses combined.

"Hey," the bulky man said as he removed his hand from Karei's arm and waved at the two boys. He appeared to be in his early twenties, golden tresses on top of his head almost like a mop yet not as long. He knelt down slowly, his hand still holding Karei's, those eyes of his searching from behind his eyelids as if he wanted to see the boys. "What do they look like, Karei?" he asked her calmly, still smiling.

She sighed. "Kinda like you when you were young, Kyo. Cropped hair, gray eyes . . ." Karei felt the tears forming in her eyes as she remembered when she and Kyo could fool around like children; when he was absolutely free from being hindered. Her free hand came up to wipe her eyes dry. Good thing Kyo couldn't see it. "'Cept you were bigger."

Kyo nodded his head gently, reaching his free hand out and estimated their size before resting his hand on top of Malachi's head and ruffling his hair up a bit. "What's your names?" The big oof felt Karei's bare foot nudge his leg a bit, but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"Hm . . . Where's your parents? Are you out running these streets by yourself?" Some questions those were coming from a thief. As far as she was concerned at the moment, she and Kyo were nothing other than travellers here in the village for the first time. And that was exactly what she was going to lay off to everyone for the time being.

[Anonymous]

MALACHI & NEKA: The Twins

Neka, just a minute younger than the two, whispered to Malachi, as they conversed in friendly secret. They weren't the type to crack mean jokes about another person. They just noted how that the older man was blind. He was too much older than the duo, but larger. They were seventeen, but sometimes they acted younger. When by strangers, they had learned to perfect themselves into perfect images of gentleman. Now, when they were hanging out with their friends.. well, that was just another story entirely.

"I'm Malachi!" one of the boys spoke happily, not minding that his hand was on top of his head/

"I'm Neka. Did I catch you two right? You're Karei and you're Kyo?" Neka asked, head tilted curiously while his mischevious eyes flickered around.

Malachi felt a depressed tug shimmer inside him for a bare second. It depleted to nothing and he ignored it. He did miss mom and pop.. and the small, poor fay village they had been raised in. But, what was in the past was in the past. He continued to grin on until he caught their leisurely friend waltzing towards them.

"Ah! Parents? Nah. Run the streets... Nope. Just got here with our friends," Neka responded cheerfully, having caught his twin's physical response but dismissed for the time being.

TOKALA: The Sly Fox

He brushed back the curling auburn tendrils that threatened to overwhelm his vision. He watched them with carefully caculating rust colored eyes. Now, Tokala was the thief of the four. But he was sly, quick and chose his victims carefully. But he rarely ever stole, just lied through his rather charming facade.

He swaggered beside Neka, letting his arm prop onto the boy's shoulder. Tokala was a good 6 foot, muscular and slender. The twins height only rose to 5 foot 8, good enough for arm rests. But he was rather content, crunching into the juicy, supple apple with a brow arching slightly with a calm smile. Karei and Kyo? If he had heard right.

"I'm Tokala," he greeted in his deep, amused voice.

MALACHI & NEKA: The Twins

"As close to a pop as we got is this lazy lug," Malachi said jokingly, a grin evident in his voice, eyes, and face.

Neka examined the duo more closely than his social brother. Kyo was blind and a rather large man. From what he could tell he was very kind. Karei, the woman seemed to be more eager to leave and more grown up. To him, she came off as not as social. Then again, Kyo was blind and curious. Or maybe that had nothing to do with it whatsoever. But he had witnessed the shine of her eyes - a hint of tears as he described them. So she cared deeply about Kyo. Very interesting it seemed.

[Anonymous]

Kyo grinned as he listened to the two boys. They certain had their different aspects as well as their similarities, that much he could tell just by listening to them. Now standing next to Karei -- still holding tightly onto her hand -- he towered over her by a great deal. She only came to stand around five and a half feet in height, near the average height of the women from the small forested village they had come from.

But Kyo was another story. He had to rack in height near enough just about four inches below seven foot, a great difference between him and his female companion. Despite he appearance, he was far more gentle and social than any man of his height would dare to be. His height wasn't the perfect for their occupation as thieves, yet that had managed to work out the kinks around it over time.

"No parents?" Kyo raised an eyebrow before turning his head down toward Karei, who looked up toward him. He could tell she was on the same level as him when she squeezed his hand.

"Seems you two have more in common with us than I thought." Truth be told, Karei never had parents from what she could recall. Kyo's family had taken her in as an infant and raised her. It was around the time Kyo lost his family that he went blind. "Oh . . ."

But her thoughts were easily interrupted as the other man can and joined the twins, introducing himself right in the middle of it all. Karei didn't seem to mind so much, but Kyo went on the defenses. Just by Tokala's voice, Kyo knew he was somewhere of a challenging age and height to him. She knew he was tensed up and brought her other hand to rest over his that almost completely cover her other hand.

Finally letting loose of her uptight composure, she relaxed to try and get Kyo to do the same. He didn't. Letting out a sigh, Karei shook her head and looked at Tokala for a moment, and pretended to be a social flower for a moment. "So you look after these two boys, huh?"

[Anonymous]

ILITHYA: The Kitten

After manipulating the herb garden to appear somewhere between decent and a sham, she slowly stood. Her back hurt, but only slightly from leaning over for so long. But it would all be worth it once the herbs flourished and they got back on their feet. She wiped her hands on the apron over her skirts, dark hair in a bandana and her sleeves rolled and scrunched upwards to keep them clean. Now, it was time to tend to her 'children'. Despite Tokala being the oldest of 29, he was no more responsible then the twins she swore.

The fay had been just walking toward them, intrigued by the absurdly tall man, who as she got closer could be blind. She wasn't sure and she wasn't going to ask. The woman was about her height, a serious constrast between the duo. But hey, she didn't plan on judging them.

She caught the tail end of Karei's question, asking Tokala if he raised the twins. And suddenly, her cheeks grew hot. She knew well that Tokala put on his charms and tried to appear more attractive then he already was by appearing responsible. Well! He wouldn't get away with that.

"Tokala? Forgive his ego... I take care of all three of them," she responded with a life, appearing from behind Tokala as she wiped her hands down her apron again.

TOKALA: The Sly Fox

He had just been about to lay it on - smooth as a river and just as flowing. But now, his responsibily level dropped to a zero with the sudden appearance of Ilithya. The fay girl was as old as the twins, and popped up when you least expected it. Tokala wrote it off as a trade of all females - there when you least expect it.

The lazy mask that had been so pronounced on his face faltered, slightly slipping. But he swiftly changed it to appear more of as an annoyed grimace. Tokala wasn't brave enough to overcome her wrath. He learned long ago that if he took credit for her work, his charisma and lecherous ways would quickly earn him a few, bright red handprints across his face.

"Ah. Yes, this is little Ilithya..." He spoke as if she were child, which in most cases he considered her as such.

But he did treat her as an adult when they were on their own, just the four of them secluded. But then, he wasn't a thief nor a lech trying to survive by conceit and deceit. Then he was a rather kind man just as stuck as the rest. Unfortantly, they were often together in public and she never appreciated his brotherly, annoyed affection towards her.

MALACHI & NEKA: The Twins

Neka, with the appearance of 'Kitten', as she was known, scooted away to allow her free-reign. She was hot, sweaty, possibly in her time of the month, and they hadn't been pulling their weight. While Tokala and Malachi would argue and fight her while she was like that, Neka would calmly sit back and take a subordinate role. He wasn't that bold.

Malachi rolled his eyes at the intrusion of Kitten. A nickname she detested but it was what they perferably called her. It was an affectionate nickname, both to show her curiousity and fears of all those classic girl things. She wasn't fond of spiders or snakes, usual girl fears. Sterotypical of course. But when the twins first nickname she was screaming and yelping about a sweater on her doll. That's when it first started. Silly, but it was a friendship nonetheless.

"Ilithya? Oh! So use to calling her Kitten," Malachi said with a light laugh.

Neka quickly made up for that remark, however indirectly focused upon Ilithya.

"She really is the one who makes she we don't get into too much trouble," he said, glancing at his twin meaningfully.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, good to know there's a woman behind it all," Karei smirked as Ilithya came forth and somewhat gave a twisted glare at Tokala for a moment. Kyo tapped the back of her leg with his foot in protest to her comment, but she ignored it. He knew she was joking about. Then again it wasn't a normal thing for her so he probably wouldn't be aware.

She couldn't take credit behind the two of them, and seem like the superior one of the duo because she had the sense of sight. Kyo was behind it all, and even kept her in line a great portion of the time. It was a tendency to be a bit overbearing, even about the simpliest of things. He kind of kept her on the calm and sane side of the world. Having her go insane over the tiny bits and pieces of things wasn't worth it and so he kept in her check.

But after it all, Kyo remained silent. There was nothing else that he could really say or do. He couldn't see a thing or really make a comment about anything. That was all left up to Karei like it normally would. And she knew it was her time to kick in to gear and try and figure out the kind of things that Kyo would more than likely go about asking if he had the ability to view it all himself. She had to depict it to him, she wasn't about to leave him lost in the dark.

Looking at Ilithya, Karei managed to tug her hand away from Kyo's and moved over toward her. Holding out her hand, she smiled and nodded her head kindly."I'm Karei, and the big oof is my best friend Kyo." Up closer now, she took a good look at Ilithya.

Ilithya appeared around the same age she was, possibly a little younger but it really didn't show. And the boys were around this girl's age. Except Tokala, who seemed to exceed the twins and the girl. Just by the range of things, and how Karei alone saw it, Kyo were probably even younger. Then again, that wouldn't surprise her. If Tokala was older than she was, then there was a good chance he was older tha Kyo as well considering there was only a three year gap between ninteen and twenty-two. But she wasn't about to assume.

"Very relieved to know that you take care of the boys and not that egotistical one." Karei took a glance at Tokala before shaking her head and letting out a slight laugh.

[Anonymous]

ILITHYA: The Kitten

She allowed a smile to touch her lips and laughed softly as Karei made her first joking comment. The fay woman nodded as she introduced herself, grasping the woman's hand in a kind and polite handshake. Ilithya calmly watched this and then listened to Karei's next comment about the egotistical fool beside her. A grin lighted her face to show her own agreement.

"Just about everyone says that," she laughed softly, glancing at everyone here.

MALACHI & NEKA: The Twins

"You're making Tokala sound like an irresponsible, egotisical mooching idiot, Kitten," Malachi remarked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Malachi, the more mischevious out of the two brothers, admired Tokala for his charismatic and lecherous ways. Neka, on the other hand, admired Ilithya for putting up with the three guys. They weren't the most sensitive and alot of the times they were coarse with her. But she could be annoying. Then again, Neka thought Malachi and Tokala were annoying as well. Tokala was often hitting on random, gorgeous women, telling tall tales to acquire something, and Malachi was always plotting 'fun' to fill the space in their days.

"Tokala kind of is, Malachi..." Neka responded, blinking as he then glanced to Karei and Kyo, taking them both in with docile gray eyes.

TOKALA: The Sly Fox

The fox spirit had been barely paying attention to both his companions and acquaintences. His rust colored eyes had wandered outwards to obtain information about this kingdom. Or, it's inhabitants. He assessed the rich from the poor, the beautiful from the ugly, and the brutes from the brains. But his eyes found their way to Kyo. The other man didn't seem too comfortable with his prescene. Oh well, it wasn't any of his concerns. His concerns consisted of some action, food, mischief, and sleep. All without paying, just a little of charismatic skill.

"Oh? Neka, I'm not that terrible. I have helped out in the past," he responded in his deep, amused and flowing voice.

Truth be told, Tokala had helped out much since their humorous meeting. It had happened when Ilithya was screaming about some spider Malachi was teasing her with while Neka watched, laughing to hard to really care. And, of course, like a knight in shining armor he swept in with 'Oh, young sir, it's not polite to scare young ladies with such pests'. He then patted the spider out of Malachi's grip, watched it scurry away and asked if Ilithya was okay. Then he lecherously groped her, her face turned bright red and he was most unprepared for the slap across the face. That's how his friendship with them started. And how groping people ended. Ilithya always smacked him whenever he groped and did some degrading actions towards women.

ILITHYA: The Kitten

She turned to Tokala, brows arched over her exceedingly darkening eyes. She glared up at Tokala and Malachi, her eyes narrowing rather quickly. Tapping her sandalled foot once, her brow twitching slightly.

"Oh, you three have to fix that hole in the wall and money would be useful. Or you're sleeping outside v.v," she said with a light laugh and a smile.

Tokala needed motivation to just wake up. And they couldn't rely on his 'skills' for acquiring food and money. Plus, he seriously did have to fix that large hole in the wall. He made it! But Neka and Malachi also helped make that hole. They were playing 'Haha! I'm stronger than you!' and wound up throwing Neka through the wall. Tokala said he didn't do it. And they all needed to get jobs. Ilithya was already poking around at some pubs to become a waitress or a maid somewhere. Malachi and Neka had been wrestling all day. Tokala... Well, she didn't know what he had done. Perhaps nosed around and found some interesting things out. Or he lazed about. The latter sounded much more like Tokala. While she worked to fix the door, a window, cleaned the house and fixed the garden.

"Anyway... um.. How're you two today?" She asked, wanting to quickly get off the subject of 'her boys'.

They all loved each other like a brothers and sister. At least somewhere inside themselves they did...

[Anonymous]

Nada glanced around the market quickly noting the people talking, people walking, buying, selling, and browsing. She grinned and trotted towards a cart. Hey! Nada said with a spunky tone to one of the sellers. Can you tell me what kind of apple that is over there? she said pointing to a bright red apple behind the man. Yeah, he said turning his glare away from her. Which one? he asked. That one. At the end. Nada said holding in a giggle as she took three peaches and stuffed them into her black knee-high boots. Gala, he said turning to her.

OK thanks anyway. She said turning away from him and to face the group talking. Nada shruggeed and leaned against a wall that hid herself from the fruit seller. Her arm reached in as she clutched and yanked out the peaches. She began gnawing on them and walked towards some thick trees surrounding the village where Trixon lay waiting for her snack.

[Anonymous]

Kyo let out a gentle laugh as he listened to the four of them go at it in a friendly manor. He didn't want to imagine what it was like when it was just the four of them and they weren't in another's company. Karei couldn't help but notice that her companion was straining to hold something back, but she didn't make it apparent to anyone else. She could read him like a book, no matter what it was that he was thinking . . . She knew. Just one of those bonds that you build with someone after spending so many years with them. It comes naturally.

"I've been all right . . . Could be better." Kyo held back a frown that wanted to come out. The four of them brought back memories he thought that he had washed away when Karei's and his village was destroyed. Deep down, he still missed the calm and quiet life that had been given to him compared to the rough and theiving life that he was living. Never had he seen himself coming to this. Then again, he didn't even see himself making it along with his disability. Yet he was making it; probably better than most people would've if they were placed within his shoes.

"Karei's been antsy. Saying we gonna miss our friends that we're supposed to meet up with." He forced his grin to intensify when he said those words, 'cause he knew what was going to happen.

And it did. Karei's hand came to knock gently against the back of Kyo's head only hard enough to make him tip forward a bit. Their height difference made it difficult for her to hit him, but when she really wanted to it wasn't much of a difficult task to take care of. There was a nervous grin on her face, her hand coming to rest on the back of her neck. She didn't want him to make her out to be such a worry-wart, but she was certain that Ilithya knew that. Women were quick to take note of those qualities in a person. Well, most women anyway. Any women other than Karei. Dense like a log with most things, but that never made Kyo think any less of her.

"I fear the siren's rage more than the mage's," Karei admitted. "If there was any free time that I could spare sometime soon, I'd be glad to help patch up that wall."

"Yeah, Karei's pretty good with a hammer."

Another smack was delivered to the back of Kyo's head. This time harder, and his hand automatically sprang up and clenched tightly onto the nape of his neck and bottom of his head; pulling a bit on his golden locks. The only time Karei was ever good with a hammer was to pound someone with it. Other than that, she hurt herself a lot. But apparently she didn't want that to be known.

[Anonymous]

Ilithya watched them, their actions enticing a smile onto her lips. She didn't even realize that Malachi and Neka were nearly beating the crap out of themselve behind her. They were suprisingly quiet until she felt some rough scuffling behind her. She glanced behind her and huffed, brushing back some of her brown bangs.

"Alright, alright. Cut it out," she snapped irritabily.

Malachi and Neka had eachother in a headlock, shuffling as dirt started to wisp upwards. They were intertwined, pushing and pulling and turning about as Tokala laughed deeply, Ilithya being grumpy and watching disadainfully. Neka tried to break away, but his attempt failed as Malachi punched his twin in the ribs. Alright, it was time for the woman to step into it.

Ilithya stepped forward, thrusting her small fingers into Malachi's ribs, causing him to yelp and grabbing him by the back of the neck. She the grabbed Neka by the back of the neck, gripping hard as they tried to break from her lethal grip. Despite being small, she was strong - especially lately since she had been doing alot of work.

"We give in! Surrender! We raise the white flag! LEGGO!" They shrieked, pulling away until finally she released them.

Tokala chuckled at them. He had noticed the one girl who had thieved something by tricking a vendor. But he didn't really care as he watched the trio. Such children, he thought. Then again, they didn't think him anymore than a big child anyway. Haha. Oh well.

"Oh! No, that's okay. It's their job to do it. Anyway. If they decide sleeping outside is better, I'll have the entire house to myself," Ilithya said with a grin to the other woman.