No Magic in the Shop [open]

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou rubbed her left cheek, which still stung smartly.
"She didn't have to hit me so hard," she whined loudly in the empty store. It was her day off, and she had offered her mom to help at her shop. Clearly, this was a mistake.
Her eyes sulkenly looked towards her staff, which was propped up against the wall behind her. Her mother had forbidden her to use magic in her wood shop, though the girl had just be caught playing with some breezes behind the counter, bored out of her wits. She had though it would be good sport to move a toy with the air. On retrospect, Taiyou supposed she probably shouldn't have played with the stacking dolls that way, either... But that attracted customers, didn't it? 
"But noooo, don't use magic in the shop," the teenager mimicked as she rolled her eyes.

She was safe from her mother's ears; the woman had left to go buy groceries. Taiyou felt lonely... and a little depressed.  She was so bored. All her other friends, the soldiers and students, were either out shopping and exploring the city, drinking, or (it made Taiyou blush just thinking about it) to the brothel.
Or I could be out in the forest with Shioko, she thought, miserably. Her dragon was hunting alone,  again.  Taiyou knew she could have been doing any one of those things (except whore hunting) but she chose to help her mom, instead. When she did, it was sometimes fun. Other times... well, it was like this.

"Mothers," she muttered darkly as she pulled out a small carving knife under the counter and began to whittle away at a piece of wood she had been working on. A student, another mage class, had wanted a flute similar to the one Taiyou had made herself. Soon enough, the girl forgotten the humility of getting slapped and focused intensely on her work, her misery replaced with confidence.
As for customers, she thought, business picks up in the afternoons. Interesting people always drop by about now.

[Zane]

Running. One of life's simplistic joys. While it was true that there was a fair amount of complexity that came to being a runner, after sixteen years it was rather a simple thing to do. But still incomprehensibly fun. Scipio had just entered Ketra and had already taken to the roofs, his destination was of course the runner's house, simply known as "the office" to non runners. He had been sent from Arca to deliver some paperwork to the House Keeper here in Ketra. It had taken him four days to reach the city, a new personal best. It was almost noon by the time he got to the office.

"Welcome ho- well hello Scipio I wasn't expecting to see you today." Stated the House Keeper. Scipio quickly brought out the stack of papers from his satchel, "just bringing you some paperwork from Arca." The house keeper looked though them for a minute before exclaiming, "these are dated less than a week ago! Surely you didn't come all the way from Arca in a mere four day!" Scipio just shrugged and went to look through his bag, he wasn't one to brag to house keepers, most of them had records of their own. "Well now that you are here Scip why don't you make yourself comfortable, most of our runners are out in the city or on a mission, feel free to use any of the beds in the back. We also have coffee, tea, ale and several kinds of food, mainly dried beef and fruit." Scipio nodded his thanks before slipping into the back room, grabbing an apple and making his way to one of the twelve beds.

After a little while, the house keeper called to him. "Hey Scip, do you mind running a letter for me? It's to a friend of mine that runs a small woodcarving shop a little way from here, just go over the building across from us then down a block and you will be on top of it." Scipio got up from the bed quite relaxed and walked into the main room and took the letter that had been laid out, "sure sound like fun."

Less than five minutes later Scipio was standing atop the shop. He jumped down to the steet with a thud and turned to look in the display window to make sure that this was the destination, which it was, before walking in.

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou had been so absorbed by her work that she had violently jumped when her ears picked up the noise of footsteps on the roof. It was a soft sound, but in the quiet shop, the repetitive, quick noise was all the more obvious.
A thief? Taiyou wildly thought as she reached for her staff, her body tense. In broad daylight? Maybe it's foreign spy. A hero from a legend?
Of course, the ideas got more preposterous as they went along, but Taiyou was bored enough to let her imagination reign free.

The teen yelped when a figure jumped down from the roof, her green eyes wide as Scipio entered the shop. Her eyes quickly scanned his person.
A foreigner, she thought as she tried to calm her furiously beating heart and quickened breathing.
Taiyou pouted when she made note of the swords on his back. Her keen eyes narrowed at the sight of the holster. She didn't know what was in it, but the girl didn't doubt that whatever in it could be deadly.
He's pretty and looks  tough, but doesn't look like a solider, she thought.
But what was such a stranger doing on her roof?
Maybe thief wasn't all that off.
Not that she had anything to be afraid of.
I'm a dragon rider of Adela.

Using the draft that passed through the door as Scipio opened the door, Taiyou used it to shut it behind him with a soft thud.
"Are you a customer, sir?" she asked hopefully, though  her voice was filled with suspicion.
The girl pointed towards the roof.
"Is there something wrong with the streets...?" she continued, attempting not to sound angry or terribly sarcastic. Taiyou knew her mother would scold her if she scared off a potential buyer, again. Besides, it wasn't polite.  Though what's so polite about arriving on decent people's rooftops?

[Zane]

"Perhaps, and no" he said looking around at the ornate sculpting of the wood pieces, "the rooftops are just faster." Scipio was loving the amount of deatail that went into the piece he was admiring. It was a wood carving of a tiger. He had loved tigers ever since he had seen one while making a run in Hyoite. "Oh sorry pardon my rudeness, my name is Scipio Prosper and I'm with the runner's society. I have a letter from the house keeper for...." Scipio got a good look at the young woman behind the counter, she looked to be in her mid teens, probably fifteen, "....the owner of this store,"

[Winters-Feather]

"I see," Taiyou replied.
The suspicion in  her voice was replaced with a sense of awe and surprise. She felt a little sheepish. The Runner's Society was a system that was part of every day life with the odd habit of running on people's roofs. She had seen them in action in the city or casually strolling about. The only reason this one caught her so off guard was because she wasn't use to them making a personal house call- runners were prohibited from running around in the base. They submitted the mail to a designated area where from there the mail was distributed. More urgent messages were of course taken to the higher ups immediately.

Taiyou flashed a bright grin, amused by Scipio's confusion.
"Right," she replied as she  walked around the counter to greet him.
The girl gave a small bow with a hand pressed against a fist.
"I'm Taiyou," she said.
"My last name's Nanji. You'll be wanting my mother, but she's out at the moment. Oh..."

Her voice trailed off as her eyes quickly shifted over to where Scipio had been looking at. It was of a prowling and proud tiger, roughly the size of his fist. It's body was curved, as if it was pacing around its prey, its eyes mystifying. The girl placed a hand on her hip, proud. She liked it when people admired her mother's handiwork. She was a true artist, though her work wasn't always as appreciated as it ought to have been. 

"Do you like it?" she asked, encouragingly.
"Mama finished carving that about a month ago, I think. She spent hours getting the details right. The fur looks as if the wind is brushing through it, doesn't it?" she boasted.
The girl beamed up at Scipio.
"You can touch it, if you want," she offered.
"It won't bite."

[Zane]

"No, I suppose it wouldn't but would it?" He chuckled. He gingerly picked up the piece and slowly spun it in his hands. The detail was unreal for a wood carving. "It's a marvelous piece. It looks as if it might become animate at any moment. It's downright beautiful." He set the piece down with an extreme amount if care. Scipio looked back to Taiyou. "Do you have any idea when your mother shall return? I have to pass the letter to her directly." He looked back at the tiger carving, yes he wanted to buy it, but with the amount of work that it looked like it took to make, he felt he wouldn't have enough to buy it.

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou observed as Scipio admired the piece, excited. She could tell he wanted it, but was too afraid to ask for a price. Most usually were intimidated, at first. The girl was about to offer a price when he asked her when her mother was going to return. Taiyou frowned at that.
"I don't know. She ran out just now to do errands," she explained.
The girl began to twist a section of white hair around a finger. Her mother definitely wasn't going to be back in a while, but this man needed to give her something. Relatively important, if he needed to give it to her directly. Her eyes lit up as she looked around the room, her eyes landing on carving of a bird.

"I've got an idea!" she brightly exclaimed as she grabbed her staff.
She summoned a breeze from it, causing the air around her to momentarily glow a soft violet color. The room suddenly grew a little colder.
"Go fetch my mother, okay?" she instructed it, her mind offering the wind a mental image of her. The girl could have just used one from the streets, but the ones she had gathered were more obedient. That being done, the girl sent the breeze on its way through the cracks underneath the door.
"That'll go and find her," she explained. "So she should be back, soon!"
Secretly, the girl was nervous. Her mother knew her well enough to recognize her signature, but there was still a shadow of a doubt it wouldn't work.

That being done, the girl returned her attention to the tiger. She'd make Scipio a customer, yet.
"That one would normally cost you three and a ha' shils," Taiyou said, calculating the math in her head. "But I can knock it down to three, since you've gone through all this trouble for the letter."

[Zane]

So she is a Mage, he thought to himself as she summoned the wind. He didn't mind waiting for Taiyou's mother, runner protocol was to hand off mail directly, unless of course the intended person was in a restricted area like the base here in Ketra. Speaking of the base he wondered if Taiyou spent time at the academy. She had the build that suggested that she has some form of civil training. Similar to that of a second or third year runner. His attention was then brought back to the tiger.

"Three shils huh? Do you accept the runner's gold coin? I'm afraid I don't carry many shils."

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou was taken aback by Scipio's offer.
"A gold coin?" she replied, stunned.
No way! That's much too much! Taiyou thought, though the girl knew better than to speak such thoughts out loud.

Her mother had taught her the conversion of runner coins a while ago. Their currency was different than any of the Three Kingdoms, though they were all obliged to accept them. Taiyou calculated the sum in her head, furiously tapping at her fingers as she did the math.
Besides, he might not be telling the truth, she realized.

The girl shot Scipio a suspicious look. He acted as if he didn't have enough money before, but if he had enough to possess a gold coin. Was he trying to take advantage of her, mistaking that for ignorance of business? Plenty of customers have tried that before, only to be woefully wrong. Some got a way with it, but Taiyou's mother had saw that her mistakes were never repeated.
"Show it to me, please," she asked, holding out an open palm for it.

[Zane]

Scipio actually had a few of the gold coins in his back pocket. Four or five of them actually. He opened the flap on his pocket and brought one out of the coins, careful not to let the rattle against each other. He flipped it in his hand a few times before passing it over. The Runner's Society stamp was on one side. The other side blank. He brought out the letter he had from the House Keeper so she could compare the stamp on the wax to the stamp on the coin.

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou gently accepted the coin, turning it in the light.
"Oh," she quietly exclaimed.
In truth, she never had handled gold coins before. Not that she could recall, anyway.
It's protocol to bite them, she recalled. To see if it's real gold.
Taiyou brought the thing to her lips and chomped down on the corner. True to Scipio's word it was true gold; there was a small dent where her teeth had been. The girl made a gagging noise- it tasted horrible.

The payment made, she reached down for the coin purse which was secured in her sash. After carefully dropping in the gold coin, she counted out seven silver Adelan coins. With that, Taiyou pressed them into the palm of the man's hand.
"There," she said. "Do you want me to wrap the tiger up?"
Taiyou paused. Of course only moments had passed, but she wished that her mother would hurry up.
"I'm sorry for the wait, Mr. Prosper," she apoligized, "I-"
Suddenly, the door bursted open. In came a red sleeve runner, an Adelan young woman  with a round face and her hair  micro braided. She gave Scipio a panicked  looked, shooting glances towards Taiyou.
"The letter," she said between wheezes, pointing towards Taiyou.
"Did she open it? Do not open whatever it is that was sent!"
"Why?" asked Taiyou, tense.

The woman walked up to Scipio, clapsing a hand on his shoulder
"Who sent the letter?" she demanded.
"There's been a discrepancy in our system. Somehow some underground terrorist group is sending cursed messages. There's been nine cases as far as I know, it's been a nightmare."

[Zane]

Scipio passed the coins back, "keep them. The tiger is worth much more than you asked for." That was when the other runner burst in out of breath. "Get word to all runners in the area, have them return to the house. Postpone all deliveries." He turned back to Taiyou and held out his hand, his other hand reaching for for the flap of his holster. "The letter, if you don't mind Ms. Nanji."  Letter and knife in hand, he cut across the edges of the letter, the razor edge of the throwing knife cut through the paper like it were warm butter. He carefully opened the slit on the letter.

Investigating the inside and using the knife to negotiate the folds in the paper. "You're Mage correct? Tell me about curses, especially the ones that can be activated by non mages," so far he couldn't see any runes that are used in infamous curse magic.

[Winters-Feather]

The silver coins dug into Taiyou's fist as she listened to the two runners talk. The choas was both confusing and highly alarming.
A terrorist attack? she thought, shuddering. How did such a thing breach the military security? How were the Runners unable to detect it before now?
More importantly, she thought, her throat running dry, Why do they want my mother?
Taiyou snapped back into focus as Scipio opened the letter.
"Don't!" she yelped as he opened the slit of it. Though it was true that the letter could have been innocent, Taiyou didn't want the man to curse himself, on the off hand that it was magiced.

Thankfully, nothing seemed to affect him.
She nodded solemnly as she gingerly accepted the thing, using the sleeves of her tunic to touch it.
"The ones that can be activated by nonmages?" she repeated, thinking.
They learned about curses in the academy, though her training on the subject had so far been an overview. Taiyou narrowed her brow as she reserfaced her learnings.
"Curses are just bad spells. You don't always need runes for those," she recalled.
"They can generally be activated when the object is touched or a special phrase is recited. There are hundreds of more erratic methods, of course,  but physical contact of some sort is the most basic. But there are other ways, I think..."

The girl carefully placed the letter on the table, and used her carving knife to examine the writing. It appeared to be a long winded letter to her mother, a plead by an apparent long lost friend who had just moved back to the city and wished for a speedy reply regarding their reunion.
"Ivie Obian," Taiyou said, reading the name at the end.
I've never heard my mother mention that name before.
The runner woman appeared alarmed at this. 
"All the cursed letters had that name on it."

The girl took her staff and touched the tip of it to the letter. She let out an alarmed cry as the contact made purple sparks, momentary scorching the paper. Cautiously, Taiyou peered at the letter. It was not burned, not in the true sense of the word. Instead, some of the words seemed to be fading away.
"There's a hidden message," she said, dumbfounded.

[Zane]

Scipio gingerly picked up the letter and looked it over. Several of the words had not faded he read those words aloud. "To the...runners....thank you...for the use of....your system....I'm done with...you now...to whom...it may...concern....it... Begins" beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. He turned to the red sleeve. "Take this to the house keeper and have her send word out to Cleara Verdad. We have done dealings with them in the past, they might be so inclined to help us again." As the runner left Scipio turned back to Taiyou, "I'm sorry for this. I assure you that The Runner's Society will get to the bottom of it since they were so gracious to use our system. I better stay to tell your mother what happened."

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou mulled over the message left.
To whom it may concern it begins?
Shivers crept down her spine. The message was mocking the Runners, but what the hell was beginning?
"Who are they targeting?" she wondered, out loud.
Unless they want to make the Runners look bad, but why did the curse not effect him? The girl frowned at the man's suggestion to hire the Cleara Verdad. Taiyou had heard of the group before, but to suggest resorting to them rather hurt her pride.
"This is a matter of Adela's national security," she stubbornly argued.
"You ought to bring this up to the military. This doesn't concern outsiders!"
Doesn't it?

The girl swiftly turned towards the red sleeve.
"No, wait!" she pleaded, rushing over towards the woman.
The runner gave Taiyou a vaguely annoyed expression.
"Miss, it's my job to confiscate this for further examination," she calmly explained.
"But it's my mother they want to attack," Taiyou retorted as she stretched out for the letter.
As her fingers brushed the paper, an intense feeling of burning filled her  fingertips. The girl drew back her eyes watching horrified as a tattoo of a black vine began to  twist around her right hand.
"What the hell?" she screeched, turning towards Scipio.
The letter was written for my mother, she thought, But it affects me, too?

[Zane]

"Oh don't worry we will bring this to the military. We have to make an appeal and prove that this is not our fault, there will be an investigation. Possibly an extensive one depending in the effects the curses have had. But you are wrong. The terrorists used our system. It's a matter of national security for all nations. Right now we have no idea how widespread the attack is. After all. The letter said to whom it may concern. Not to Adela. I'm sorry Ms. Nanji but we do have procedure to follow."

When Taiyou touched the letter, Scipio quickly went to her side and grabbed below her wrist. He watched as the tattoo moved along her skin then came to rest around her wrist. An inch above her hand. He turned to the red sleeve. "The curses are blood curses the terrorists are somehow getting their target's blood. Take the letter to the house keeper and return with the medical kit. " he then turned to Taiyou, "tell me. Has your mother seen any healers lately?" He redrew his knife. "That tattoo is actually cursed blood under your skin. If we don't drain it, it will spread like an infection across your skin until it reaches your heart. Then you die."

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou groaned pain as her right hand formed a fist. She watched in horror as her skin bulged out, the vine slowly creeping up her arm. The girl rolled up her sleeve, up to her shoulder.  The girl grimaced as Scipio held her arm.
"Blood curses?! You mean they have access to my blood?" she asked, her throat dry.
Taiyou had more questions, much more, but they would have to wait. The girl braced herself against her staff, already feeling woozy.
She shook her head at the man's question.
"You'll have to ask her. I don't know," she said, confused.
Healers?

The teenager anxiously watched the red sleeve leave. She wanted so badly to keep hold of the document, if only to submit it to the military directly. Taiyou  realized that what Scipio said was right- of course this was a matter of international security, as well. Still, the terrorists' message had said that the Runners were just a means to an end. Fear flashed in  her eyes as she eyed the knife, but Taiyou nodded at his suggestion. She was a dragon rider of Adela. Although she felt her face flushing, the girl refused to cry, bracing herself for the blood letting.  She turned towards a simply carved wide brimmed bowl with an elegant pattern carved around the edge. Taiyou felt guilty for using her mother's art for such grim purposes, but she figured the gold coin paid its price.
"Don't want blood all over the floor," she muttered.

[Zane]

"No. I would assume they somehow got your mother's blood, but since she is your mother, your blood is very similar to her's. it's either that or you were the target all along." Scipio waved the red sleeve away, hoping she would return soon. Scipio eyed the bowl, she had a point. He grabbed the bowl and handed it to Taiyou, "hold it under you wrist,"

He placed the knife on her wrist and slowly pulled back, ever so lightly scoring the skin. It was interest what happened next. The curse, sensing that there was a break in the skin curled around and started to force it's way out the cut. Before a full minute had passed, all the cursed blood was out of her arm. "Are you alright? Describe how you feel." He was definitely going to leave the other four coins here, for the bowl and for the fee of any healer that she and her mother wanted to go to.

[Winters-Feather]

Taiyou nodded as she obediently followed Scipio's instructions, placing her staff under her arm. Though she had promised not to make a buffoon of herself, the teen still averted her eyes as Scipio cut her skin. Taiyou hissed as the knife made contact with her flesh. Though it was only a minor wound, pain shot through her arm, though she had felt worse. The girl gritted her teeth as she watched the curse leave her body. At first, it had resisted, clinging onto her tighter than before. Then, defeated, the black blood spilled out from her wrist until the vine was completely gone from her skin and her blood began to run red.

After that dreadful minute passed, Taiyou carefully sunk onto the floor. She had lost enough blood to feel light headed and disoriented.
She placed the bowl besides her, careful not to spill a drop, though she wished she could push it far away. The cursed blood smelt foul. Taiyou clenched her wrist with her left hand.
"I'm fine. Thanks," she quietly replied as the black blood in the bowl began to hiss and bubble. Taiyou watched dully as with a hiss, the blood quickly evaporated, gone.
Blood collecting, she thought, wrinkling her nose.

"What do you think is going to happen with it?" she quietly asked.
That's when the door burst open.
There stood Anwar, her twisted hair and overall appearance disheveled. She stood by the door way, cradling her bare right arm, which was covered in a thick black vine that traveled all the way up to her elbow. Her eyes wildly went from Scipio, to her daughter on the floor, and back to the man again. Her eyes were filled with rage, panic, and confusion all in one.

Taiyou grimaced at the sight, guilty for inflicting this on the both of them for her reckless behavior.
"What a mess," she sighed as she struggled to her feet. The girl moved towards her mother and hugged the woman.
"Mr. Prosper," Taiyou begged, "Get the stool behind the counter. Please help her, too."
"You've some explaining to do, young lady," Anwar said, still in a state of shock.
"I know," Taiyou muttered.

OOC: I added just a little more because I found a typo and had to fix it and yeah. I do this sometimes .><

[Dreamwolf]

((I'ma pop in, Fen is a Healer so it wouldn't wrong for him to be contacted, especially if it was wide spread))


Fen was walking towards his destination, a woodworkers shop that the guild had told him to make some carving tools for, when he saw the runner leave, in a hurry. He then cocked his head to the side as a second runner came running to him with a letter in hand. The only three people who knew he was in the city were the Master of Silver Wolf that had sent him, Luna who was in the market buying old silver pieces for reuse, and the Healers Guild, which had employed him twice before during battles.

Tipping the red sleeve Runner Fen opened the letter and read what it said. He was to report to a list of houses, which ever he was closer to, to help with blood curses. It offered him a silver moon for each patient. Low on coin and high on moral Fen too a guess and decided to check the Carpenter's place, which was on the list.

Entering the building he could see the young girl standing there, with a small cut on her hand. And the woman with the black vine on her arm.

"Let me see. I'm a healer."


((Fixed it xp *slaps self for not paying attention to details*))