Faelis Gindien was basically in the middle of nowhere.
Sure, he knew where he was, and he liked the dense forests of Ravensway, but he was on a mission, and he was in somewhat of a pickle.
He was on his way to Arca, and was after something very valuable. He was going to steal an expensive artifact from an even weather lord. The artifact was a goblet, made out of of pure obsidian, and studded with sapphires. It was the dream if many thieves to steal it, and Faelis was no exception. It was such a beautiful piece, and the elf thief needed to steal it.
It wasn't that the elf was poor, on the contrary, he was quite well off, but the lure of stealing was what made him do it. The thrill of outwitting some snobbish lord, the excitement of sneaking where he shouldn't be, the feel of victory when he completed a heist.
Faelis didn't really even care about the item he got, and he only kept the actual coins that he stole, and sometimes a small trinket that he really liked. Mostly he just gave away what he stole, though with something recognizable like the goblet, he would probably sell it to some other thief, for if he gave it to a random person, if they were found with it, they could be framed, and while Faelis was a thief, he didn't want to harm anyone, hence the reason he did not steal from the poor.
It was a very dangerous job, but that's what Faelis liked about it. If it was easy, it would be boring, and where's the fun in that?
He was thinking about the goblet as he walked through the dappled sunlight under the trees. He was looking forward to this, but the only problem was, he needed another person to help him.
Sure, he could just hire a person in Arca, any he'd be happy to split the profit with the other person, but there was always that large possibility that the thief you hire is not as nice as you are, and they'll stab you in the back the first chance they get after the goblet's stolen.
Faelis had had some bad experiences with that. He had managed to avoid being stabbed the first time, and from the second, he still had a scar on his shoulder. It would have been through his heart if he hadn't dodged away.
So he needed someone he knows he can trust. . . But where would he find such a trustworthy person who would help him steal. . ?
~~~Artful backstabbing and betrayal, hallmarks of reality, rooted cynicism deep in some. It weathered the sharpest of minds, the greatest of men and women, to drown within a sea of lies and broken promises from others, and from themselves. Darkness propelled itself through the land, a sickness of self-sustained distrust and ignorance. The new plague was of nihilism. The world was such a shadowed realm to call home.
However - even the smallest sparks might be enough the ignite some semblance of change. Many had tried, many had failed, but truly, failure was only a temporary condition. Eventually, there might be something to stand beside with the banner of truth held high. This is where the unexpected might bloom, but where were the seeds?
Legends.
Stories passed through time, taught onward through the generations for the lessons learned and motivation given. Sometimes, these tales give rise to further adventures to speak of, sometimes of heroes and villains, and sometimes, they give rise to those wishing for dreams to come true.
Sometimes, these seeds grew a beautiful Rose.
---
~~~Thoughts of home were on her mind, thoughts of her mother and father. No matter how many times she ran it through her mind, even when both of her parents supported her voyage, Rose Ebonheart always felt regretful in saying goodbye. That was what took her attention from the creaking woodland around her.
Rose's crimson cloak flutters in the breeze around her small figure as she strides through the same lonely path as the thief. Each step was light and quiet, well under the sounds produced by the ambient rustling of leaves and the chattered gossiping of birds. She had her hood raised over herself, cloak latched closed, giving the ironic appearance of someone who might be attempting to remain undetected in the most octane color possible for the scene. Truthfully, she just loved the color red - It was a red flower she shared her name with, after all - and had an adoration for the cloak.
Rose's pale face was full of contemplation, lost in wondering if it was the right choice, as she neared ever so closer to him. Silver eyes locked on the ground in front of her, she couldn't be more oblivious to Faelis.
Rose couldn't be more oblivious to the master thief she was carelessly approaching.
Faelis was still thinking about how he would obtain a partner for his venture an hour later when heard the girl's footsteps behind him as he walked down the narrow path. He looked over his shoulder to see the small figure approaching from behind. She didn't look very intimidating, but if there was one thing Faelis had learned from his years as a thief was that looks can definitely be deceiving.
He couldn't see her face, but assumed it was a young girl from how she walked and the weight of her footsteps on the soft ground.
She didn't seem to notice him, and Faelis slowed his steps so she would catch up with him. He didn't speak until she was nearly to him, and though he may have appeared relaxed, every muscle was ready fight, and a knife could be in his hand in a fraction of a second.
"Good morning," he said, hoping he wouldn't startle her.
Rose gives a mild squeak of surprise, halts mid-step, and looks as if she might jump backwards as well. Surprising her was exactly what he had accomplished. She was, after all, not only oblivious to his presence, but also unprepared for how to act. The courage she had built quickly faded behind a creeping shyness.
Rose, however, snaps out of her frozen step a moment later. With a much more timid stride, she continues behind him once she realizes he didn't stop. Leading the events during the conversation was something she didn't yet have the confidence for.
"Come on Rose, play it cool...", her thoughts flashed, "...just play it cool..."
Rose maintains a position behind him at roughly the same distance that she paused from. "Erm... Hel.... Hi....? I didn't think anyone else would be out here..." Rose responds, her soft voice full of nervousness, the second-guessed 'Hello' evidencing just how afraid of saying the wrong words she was. Rose kicks herself internally for making such a terrible first impression, upon listening to herself definitely not play it cool.
Faelis held back a chuckle at the girl's reaction, but he didn't need to scare her any more.
"Hello," he greeted again. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"
He would start out with the weather. Always an easy topic, the girl shouldn't be to shy to comment, would she? Well, better than asking about something more personal, like her name or where she was headed. Make her more comfortable first.
"Yes, it is a pretty day..." Rose trails off without continuing the train of thought. She was clueless on how to hold a conversation.
Immediately, however, she remembers one of the parting words she had with her parents. Making fast friends was something that she was not only told she needed to do, but something Rose craved. In fact, it was one of the main reasons she wanted to travel - friends. Here was the very first person she had truly found a chance to talk to, here was her chance to try. Rose couldn't afford to curl in upon silence.
So, instead of staying her feet and her tongue, Rose trots up to a place beside Faelis as he walks. She matches his speed and sticks with him for a moment before breaking the silence, "Soooooo... I'm Rose-" she holds a gloved hand out to him, a very small, delicate, hand. Her father always said to start with a handshake... Or maybe it was a milkshake... Rose was pretty sure it was the former...
Faelis smiled as the girl walked up next to him,then held out her hand and introduced herself.
Faelis took her hand and shook. "Faelis," he said. This girl seemed very naïve, and though Faelis was still wary of her, he was a pretty good judge of character, and from what his gut was telling him, she was what she appeared to be.
"I'm headed to Arca," he said. "What's your destination?"
He hoped she would answer, because a thought had just come to Faelis's mind, despite his attempts to disregard it.
"...this way... I guess..." Rose rubs her elbow awkwardly and after a moment looks back down to the ground. She quickly realizes how rude she must sound, and looks back up quickly. "-I mean, I'm kinda just walking to where everyone is supposed to be." Another thought crosses her mind. "Is Arca a town or something...?"
Wow, she really knew nothing of the world.
"Arca is a very big town," he said. "Actually, it's a rather large city, the capital of Serendipity." Did she even know she was in Serendipity? If the girl really knew as little as it seemed like she did, she could be quite helpful.
"Why are you travelling?" The elf asked. Best learn as much as he could about the girl before saying anything about his plan, he didn't want to say he was a thief, ask for her help,and then find out she's all full of morals and completely against stealing. That would lose him an opportunity about as fast as it had appeared.
"Ohhhhhhh..." Rose pauses for several moments, filing the new information within things that might be important. It certainly sounded important to her.
"...Well, I'm going to see what's out there, and see how I might be able to help..." She grins, and gives a small 'Hmff' under her breath. Rose subtly kicks a small stone further along the path. "Must seem pretty weird, but that's kinda it."
"It doesn't sound strange at all," Faelis smiled. " There are many people whose whole goal in life is to rid the world of evil."
So she was a do-gooder, or at least she wanted to be one. She probably wouldn't want to help a their steal anything. Well then, a bit of trickery was in order.
"In fact, I'm on a mission right now," the thief said,giving away no more information, so her interest would be piqued.
The bait was perfect. Rose's eyes widen, she turns to face him completely, and looks as if she just might burst of sudden excitement. Instantly, he had her full attention.
"You're like, a huntsman or something??!!?? Can I have your autograph??!!" She starts, starstruck, before quickly composing herself and settling down, though it was obviously taking much effort. "Erm - is it uh, anything I can help with...?
If Faelis had been truly evil, he might have cackled, but in stead he smiled kindly at her offer to help.
"I don't think so," he said, then frowned as if he suddenly remembered something. "Actually, there is something you could help with. . ." Then he shook his head. "No, it's to dangerous, I'm sure you wouldn't want to go into such an evil man's house, no matter how important the mission is to the safety of Serendipity. . ."
He heaved a rather dramatic sigh.
He hoped this would work. He was being rather dramatic, but he didn't think the girl would catch it, hopefully she'd be to enthralled by his tale.
"Nonononono- I can do it~!" Rose bursts out again. Within her eyes he was exactly what he was putting himself out to be, and what he was putting himself out to be was someone who could show her the path to her dreams. "I-I can take care of myself in a fight too, you don't need to worry about me either..."
Faelis bit his lip, as if deep in thought. "Well. . . I don't know. . ."
He was silent for a moment, pretending to be deeply thinking about this. After a few moments he nodded. "Alright," he said. "But don't feel bad if you ever want to quit."
"Private Ebonheart is-" Rose snaps her right hand up into a quick salute, her posture stiffening to complete the movement. As she does so however, she misjudges her balance, having shifted to her toes at some point when she was lost in excitement, and teeters to the left. Rose flaps her arms quickly and regains her footing a mere second later, then returns, a bit more carefully, to the attempted salute. "...combat ready sir~! Ready to catch all the bad guys!"
Faelis laughed and reached out to catch her as she fell but she righted herself and finished her salute.
Faelis saluted back. "An honor to serve with you, Private Ebonheart!" he smiled, then became serious. "I'd better fill you in on the details of our mission.
"There is an evil lord on Arca. He's very rich, and everyone thinks he's all righteous, but really, he's in command of a secret underground crime syndicate. He's got a lot of bad people under his command, who'll do anything he says, and he'll say anything to get his way, and will attempt to pay off, or kill, anyone who finds out who he really is. That's why we have to be very careful. Now, this may seem like a hopeless cause, but the lord gets all his evil manipulative power from a obsidian chalice. Our mission is to steal the chalice. Once we do that, his empire will fall to pieces."
"Ohhhhhh that's so genius... Like he won't be able to be evil and stuff because he won't have his thingy anymore..." She taps her chin, and looks off into the canopy for a moment, then tilts her head and looks back to Faelis inquisitively, "Was it like possessing him or something? Is it like a demon thingy?"
Faelis shook his head at her question. "No, he isn't possessed, but the Lord's not too smart, so the chalice gives him the power to manipulate people into doing what he wants them to."
"Oh.... Okay... Well, that's good that we're taking it so he can't manipulate people more..." Rose was beginning to run out of things to say. She rubs her elbow and tucks her hair from across her eyes. "Soooooo when do we start?"
"Well, we need to get to Arca first, and that'll be a week's journey from here," Faelis said. "And I already have a plan to get into the Lord's mansion. You know, it's quite lucky I found you, this is a two person mission, you see, and it's very hard to find trustworthy people to help out."
Rose became miles away, her thoughts dancing from what he'd told her, and what he had recruited her for. She was already so close to her first mission. The excitement was everlasting.
In reality, while she was singing to the heavens internally, outwardly, Rose was staring at a bush beside Faelis, silvered eyes looking deep into its depths. While she was so unbearably happy on the inside, she was equally lost on the outside. Rose was distracted by dreams again.
Faelis chuckled as the girl seemingly became entranced with a bush, but he could guess what was happening inside of her head, she was positively glowing with happiness.
Faelis wondered if he felt a shred of guilt at lying to her like this, but he pushed the thought away before he even had time to answer himself. He would think about that later, though that may not have been the wisest choice, its the one the thief chose.
"Sooooooooo...." Rose snaps out of her trance, and immediately back to the task at hand. "...we should get going or something... Right...?"
Faelis nodded. "We'll have to make camp soon," he said. "Before it gets dark. We don't want to be stuck out here in the dark with no firelight."
He looked at Rose. "Do you have supplies?" he asked. Even though she was setting out to become a huntress, Faelis didn't know how prepared she would be, and judging from her previous reactions, Faelis found no reason to assume she had come prepared for anything.
Rose nods quickly. From within her cloak, she unsnaps a purse-like box off of her hip, its form made of a light grey material with a silver latch as an opening mechanism. She brushes the part in her cloak out of the way to hold it in front of her. "I've got some food and stuff."
"Good," Faelis said, honestly pleased that she had brought some supplies with her. "Since we have some light left, we can find a nice clearing someplace to camp."
After another half-hour they came to a small clearing, the soft ground covered with leaves and pine needles.
"Here's a good place," Faelis said, looking around and finding that it was also quite defensible, if they were attacked by anything. "I'll start a fire. Do you have a bedroll?"
As he waited for her answer, he cleared away a spot in the middle of the camp and started to gather wood.
Rose shakes her head, "No- I mean..." She realizes mid-syllable that even without a warm bed or a bedroll, still had her cloak. A large, flowing cloak with already unique properties could easily work as a stand in, plus, she already had an affinity to use it as a blanket all the way from when she was much younger. "...kinda, I guess? Can I help somehow?" Rose stands awkwardly to the side, watching him pass back and forth, eagerly awaiting for some instruction on how to be of some assistance.
There was a lot of dead wood around, so Faelis shook his head at her offer to help, he was almost finished anyway.
"Do you want to use my bedroll?" the thief asked. "I can use my cloak, I have one in my bag."
He may be a thief, and manipulating this girl, but he would still be courteous. He crouched next to his pile of wood and started to stack it to make a fire.
"No, no I'll just use my own." She smiles politely, then bends down to pile some of the ambient wood into the crook of her arm. Rose walls it to his pile and merges the two, then returns to the other side of the fire to mirror him. If he wouldn't tell her how to help, she would just try anyway. "That one's yours, it would be wrong of me to take it from you." She continues as she stacks the wood with him, "I forgot to ask earlier, but uh, are you like a huntsman or a deputy or...?"
At Rose's question, Faelis frowned. "Hmm. . . I've never actually thought about it," he said. "I'm not really anything specific, I just travel around, doing odd jobs for people, helping out if I can."
This was not a lie. He did do jobs for people, and he also did help out, sometimes. Even though he was a thief, he has freed slaves before, and helped people out of beating, but though he did this, he didn't go searching out for people to help. If he came along someone in dire need, he would help.
"What do you aspire to be?" Faelis asked Rose.
"I want to be a huntress!" She eagerly states without missing a beat, "Standing up for what's right and fighting the bad guys! Like, dad always said to stand up for people and stuff and he was like one too, but so was my mom-" Rose's rant starts to quicken.... "-so I was like, 'Mm well might as well be the family career..'" She shrugs as she continues. "Like I'm not saying guardsman are bad because guardsman are nice and all but huntsman-n-Huntresses-are-justsomuchcoolerandnicerandyeahyaknow??!"
Apparently, she didn't notice her own sudden outburst of fangirling. Rose peers enthusiastically at Faelis, whilst still sucking in her first breath during the momentary rant.
Faelis nodded, chuckling. "I know what you mean," he said, humoring her. "I think that it's a noble cause, and you should be very proud of your career choice, I'm quite proud, and I've just met you! There is nothing more noble than someone trying to rid the world of evil!"
He could imagine how she would react to that!
He was so unbelievably nice. The very first person she met happened to be someone just like what you she wished so much to become, took her as his partner for the mission immediately, AND was just so nice... Rose's heart beat stronger and merrier with each moment she spent talking to her first friend. Containing it was beyond her ability, the happiness and joy made itself evident with the glow of her smile.
"Thank you..." She pauses, " ...you were doing this way before me though, so you should be proud of yourself too..."
Even though Rose was so radiant with joy, she sheepishly rubs her elbow and looks at the leaves to the side. The firelight obscured most of it before, but as her face turns to the side it can be observed to be flushing with a mild hue of red. Rose was blushing during the compliments.
Faelis thought he'd better stop making himself out to be to great, he didn't want to make her suspicious of him. After all, she did think he was exactly what she wanted to be. Though Faelis doubted that even if he did keep glorifying himself she wouldn't catch on for a while.
"Well, I'm not perfect," Faelis said, and actually told her another bit of truth about himself. "I ran away from home when I was fifteen. It was too boring there, I couldn't stand it. Nobody paid attention to me."
Rose glances back up. Her hand slips away from her elbow, then she relaxes more as the topic shifts towards Faelis.
"...what about your friends and family?" She asks as he finishes, "You must have someone that really notices you..." She trails off for a moment, realizing that she may have cut in rudely. More importantly, Rose realizes during the pause that her question might be personal.
"...I mean, if you don't then it wouldn't be bad that you..." Again, she trails off. Not realizing it until the moment she said it, Rose had again tripped along her whole side of the conversation, ending with her uncomfortably squirming and failing to find the right words.
She stops her tongue from sinking her deeper, and starts kicking herself internally.
Faelis bit back a chuckle as the girl stuttered her way through her sentences.
"Don't worry about it," Faelis said casually. "I was glad to leave, and I'm happy now. I didn't really have any friends, and my parents were so obsessed with my older brother that they didn't give a damn-." He cut himself off, not wanting to swear in front of Rose, no matter how mild it seemed to him. "They didn't give me a second glance. And like I said, I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing."
All of this was true as well.
"...what if they miss you though...?"
Rose doesn't seem to notice the swearing, too wrapped up in his story and the thought she was now voicing, "...What if they just didn't notice what they had, like you said, until he was gone?"
Faelis shrugged. "Maybe they do," he said. 'and I don't really care,' he wanted to say, but instead he continued in a different way. "But I don't think so. And even if they do, they can't feel that bad, I haven't heard of any efforts to find me. The definitely have the money to, and if they wanted to,I would have heard of it, even though they wouldn't have been able to find me."
He shook his head. "Anyway, enough about me, what's your family like?"
"Weeeeeeell have you made sure? Like, you'll never know until you see for yourself. They might think that you need some time, or they might respect your choice and not want to stop you... Or they're making a surprise for when you come back..." Rose taps her chin, looking off to the side again in thought. She seemed to completely ignore the shift to her own family. The only story she could tell was unfair to him in the sense that she had what he didn't - a loving family who cared dearly for her. In Rose's view, it would be rude to speak of after hearing his side.
So instead, Rose tries to shift it back to attempting to give him some hope that his family really did change when he left. She didn't know for sure, obviously, but that didn't matter to her, she just wanted to see his spirits lifted in that regard. It didn't occur to her what might happen if he decided to test it, and find Rose's hope in vain.
Perpetually naive.
"Maybe," Faelis said. "But I don't want to go back, I'm happy where I am."
He tried again to ask about her family. "So, you grew up around here?"
"Yes, just set out the other day..." Rose returns back to trying too hard within just a moment, "...probably, you mean..."
"Have you ever traveled before now?" Faelis asked, ignoring her awkwardness in an effort to make her feel more comfortable.
"Not really. I've wanted to for a while but this is the farthest I think I've ever walked from home... There was that one time with a cow, but that doesn't count... Do you travel a lot?"
"All I do is travel," Faelis chuckled. "I never stay anywhere for any long period of time. Usually I only stay somewhere a night or two before moving on."
Faelis frowned. "This may be an awkward question, but how come you've never heard of Arca until now?"
"I don't really know much of that kind of thing." She pauses, "I mean, I don't really know much of anything really.... I know, that would have been a good idea to study.. after I've already left home..."
Rose looks around, then cozies back up to the fire as if merely glancing around had made her colder. She just realized how late it must have been, but didn't want to say anything just yet. Talking to him was more important than sleeping, "...You probably know everything by now..."
"Not everything," Faelis said, smiling. "Even after going to the asme city countless times, there's always something new. That's why I love traveling so much. It's so thrilling."
He poked at the fire with a stick before sitting back from the flames onto his bedroll that he had previously rolled out. "Well, like I said before, Arca is the capital of Serendipity, and, just in case you didn't now, Serendipity is were we are now, in the continent of Le'ranna. Excuse me if you know this already."
"I at least know those last bits. I'm dumb, but not too dumb." She smiles and shrugs, trying to poke fun at herself. Rose looks around again as Faelis lays down, this time wondering if sleeping on the ground in the middle of the forest was a good idea. In the past she'd always either been at home, or recently, up in a tree. Even with doubts, she lays down on her side and tugs her cloak closer to herself as she peers over to Faelis, not wanting to cut him off by acting like she meant to sleep.
"I apologize then," Faelis said when she knew the last bits. He looked up at the star-filled sky. "We should get some sleep. I'll be able to hear if anything comes upon us in the night."
He was, after all, an elf, and as well as having heightened senses, the little bit of magic inside of him would help to sense any approaching predators.
Rose gives a muffled "Mhm" in response as she tugs her cloak into a more comfortable position around herself, then again in a different fashion.... And again, one last time to move some extra padding underneath her. It wasn't abnormal. Her cloak was possibly her most prized possession, and it had to be absolutely perfect. Rose curls herself up within her crimson blanket after several moments' pause, only leaving her relaxed face exposed as she tries to nap.
Faelis lay awake for several more minutes, listening to Rose adjust to sleeping on the ground.
For the second time today, a tendril of guilt wormed itself into his head. Should he really be doing this? Manipulating a naive teenage girl, who clearly has a high set of morals, to steal for him? Besides the fact that she was aspiring to be a do-gooder, and knew very little about the world.
But Faelis pushed away the guilt. Tricking her into doing this would bring no harm to the girl, there was no way he would ever let her get hurt, and besides, he was never caught, and wouldn't let her get caught either, so there wouldn't be a stain on her reputation. The only thing it would do would make her feel bad, and Faelis was sure it would pass after a few months. She may even come after him to try and steal the item back, not that she would ever be able to find him, not with his knowledge of the world.
But still. . . the thought nagged at Faelis until he fell asleep.