Stalking Shadows

Cerulian town was one of the more lively towns in Raven's experience. It was a bustling port town located on the southern coast of Fiore. As such, there was a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life. It really was a marvel that Raven enjoyed watching. It wasn't without it's problems, but it was still a step in the right direction in his opinion. People co-existing together.

He took in a deep breath of the salty air and grinned slightly. He had on his usual attire, his white buttoned shirt and black pants. And over that was his black jacket, with the dragon wings embedded on it. He had the jacket open, and the top button on his shirt undone. It was a little warmer out after all. His red hair was still as messed up as ever.

He paused at a nearby bakery. He was hungry... and it didn't look all that busy. So he stepped forward around other people milling the streets and heading for shops. As he got closer, the delicious smells greeted his nose, and his stomach rumbled. He might be buying a couple things at that rate... Oh well. If he couldn't finish it then he'd have desert for supper.

Cerulean was more familiar to Ren than anything else. Not to say it was the most familiar town, but simply her main perception of the place was that it was familiar. Of course it was colorful here, but she mostly ignored that. Ren’s favorite type of light was dark, and her favorite color was black. She wasn’t exactly a set formula, but she opted into the darkness without meaning to. That meant Cerulean wasn’t a natural fit for her, but she had lived here before she joined her guild, so it suited her just fine.

Ren was wandering in her usual outfit. Plaid skirt, dark tights, black hoodie, and Mary Jane’s. Someone in her guild had asked her if she owned any other clothes. She did, but she preferred this. She didn’t own many outfits anyway. It appeared as if this was going to turn into a conversation, and so Ren had quickly excited the guild hall and made her way to Cerulean, which explained her presence there today. She was just wandering, hoping to avoid socialization as best she could.

She passed by a bakery, and since she had been out all day, including the night before, she realized how hungry she was. It was nothing that helped, because staring at food only made her stomach hurt more. It gnawed at her a bit, but she remembered what it felt like to actually be starving. She was underweight as it was, but she still didn’t complain. The hoodie kept people from noticing. Cautiously Ren inched over to the glass, pressing her sleeve cloaked hands against it, her hoodie up over her head. She held her breath, not wanting to dirty the glass with her breathing and upset anyone, but she did peer in, looking to almost be glued to the place for a moment.

Stepping inside the bakery Raven inhaled through his nose. The place smelled heavenly... and even though he primarily stuck to meat, a little sugar every now and again never hurt. He paused for a moment, a slight chill going down his spine. It felt like someone was watching him....

Shrugging it off he stepped up to the array of foods displayed before him. Half the trays that held the confections were empty, showing they'd had a fair number of customers. Quietly, Raven eyed them as if a hunter eyeing prey. Finally, he selected what he wanted.

And was walking out with a small paper bag that had four things. A simple chocolate frosted raised doughnut that had rainbow sprinkles over the top. An Apple fritter covered in a simple glaze and filled with little apple chunks. A raspberry filled bismark with a thin layer of white icing on top. And to round it all out, was a plain, chcolate frosted long john. Really, it was no different than the raised doughnut, outside it's shape and lack of sprinkles.

So he pulled out the sprinkled doughnut and took a bite after thanking the lady working the counter. Once outside he paused again... feeling like someone was watching him. But he didn't pause long before taking a leisurely pace and slowly enjoying his doughnut. He hadn't noticed Ren looking in through the window the whole time...

Someone walked into the bakery and Ren watched the door. It swung open and the smells from inside drifted out toward her. Seeing food made her empty stomach hurt, smelling food was torture. She felt oddly like a stray cat. Maybe if she were a stray cat she would actually have grace.

The man inside, the very tall man, seemed to be purchasing food. Ren stared at him, well dressed, very bright red hair, and so tall. Her fingers curled down against her hand within her hoodie, feeling the soft fabric against her fingertips. She finally let out a breath, but she pulled back enough that her breath only caused a slight mist against the glass before fading off. She was fixated.

The tall man walked out of the store with a bag of goodies. He seemed to be in his own world, which Ren could appreciate. If he was in his own world, he wouldn’t notice Ren. She didn’t like to be noticed. The man slowly walked by and Ran felt compelled to follow, at least for the moment. She took a step, somehow tripping. She probably tripped on air, it happened all the time. She was just about to land on her knees when she twisted her body to one side. Unfortunately her left knee slid against the ground, cutting her tights open and showing a bit of torn skin. Ren wrapped a small shadow hand around her knee, covering it from air and making it feel better, as she stood up and looked to see how far the man had gotten away.

Raven had the feeling that he was being followed, but payed it no mind. In a town such as Cerulean, people could often be going the same direction as someone else far too easily. And while he should be more cautious, he'd kept his heritage a secret. He doubted anyone that knew what he was could still talk to tell such secrets. And he didn't look rich either. Well, maybe the jacket made him look like he had money... Too late to consider that now though, he'd had the jacket far too long and was rather attached.

So he continued at his slow pace and slowly ate at one of the doughnuts. Normally such treats tasted delicious, but this time they tasted especially good. Raven couldn't pick out any difference in flavors that would cause this so he chalked it up to his appetite.  He popped the last bite of a doughnut into his mouth and stopped to savor it when he heard a sound behind him.

He turned and spotted a girl who had tripped and fallen. At first glance she looked rather normal, save for her sleeves seemed longer than her arms. But that gave a cute first impression. What wasn't cute though was the shadow magic. He smelled a hint of blood, so she likely skinned her knee. It was the same knee her magic was covering. He remembered his father's warning about shadow magic, but she didn't smell any different than normal people. So maybe she was okay...

"Are you okay?" Raven asked as he stared at the girl. He wore a pleasant smile, since he felt no need to look angry, scary, or anything else really. It was too nice a day for that stuff.

It wasn’t normal for Ren to follow people. She usually avoided people. On a normal day for Ren she would have seen the man and walked away, feeling uncomfortable that she had even stared at him. That was just how much Ren did not try to interact with people. It was legitimately very strange for her to have followed him at all, but apparently her stomach was overpowering her brain at the moment.

Ren didn’t think today was anything especially good, or especially bad. It was just the end result of her leaving her guild so she wouldn’t have to make conversation. Lucky Ren someone was talking to her now. She’d tripped, unsurprisingly, and hurt her knee. It was nothing new to her. In fact, she owned more tights than any other article of clothing because her clumsiness ruined them so easily. She had done a makeshift mend on her tights, covering the hole in shadow that should blend in with the dark fabric. Her magic wasn’t showy, it was meant to be…. Subtle, at least in her mind. Then again she was used to it. What she wasn’t used to was talking.

“I-I’m fine. Sorry I b-bothered you. I just fell, I do that a lot,” she said quickly, stopping in her tracks when she noticed him actually paying attention to her. It was strange. People shouldn’t pay attention to her. He was smiling, but he was a man. A very, very tall man. That automatically made him dangerous. Dangerous or not, she didn’t want to be rude.

Raven blinked when the girl stuttered. She sounded afraid... And she looked the part too. And while shadow magic in any form made him uneasy, her being afraid seemed to ease the worry in his mind. She meant him no harm or ill will. That much was certain at that particular moment in time. What was also certain is that he didn't want to be scaring a cute girl like that. Sure, he didn't want people close, but he didn't have to go so far as to terrify them.

“It's alright,” Raven said nodding slowly. He kept his distance, and all movements slow and casual. He assumed it'd be easy to accidentally chase her off. The pleasant smile didn't waver any as he stretched, holding the bag above his head as he did so. “You're not being a bother. It's a nice day to meet new people.”

He paused again as he went into thought, letting his arms drop back to his sides casually. He stared for a long moment before recognition crossed his face. He'd seen her for just a moment, staring into the bakery he'd procured his food from. His gaze shifted back and fourth between her and the doughnut bag he was carrying.

“I saw you outside the bakery staring in as I was leaving,” Raven said tilting his head slightly. While this was slightly worrisome, it didn't change how he felt about her being scared. He noticed her lack of doughnuts and surmised she either got one before stumbling behind him, or just never went in. “If you didn't get a doughnut, I'm willing to share. I think I got too much for myself anyway.”

Ren wasn’t a cynic(well, not entirely), but she was far from positive about her own life. Okay, she was probably a cynic about her own life. She had fairly good reason to be, if she did say so herself. She wouldn’t have said so herself. In summary, Ren expected the worst, and she was pleasantly surprised by anything even neutral. This man kept smiling at her, and he told her it was alright after her broken apology. Then he said something peculiar. It was a nice day to meet new people. What? Ren was pretty sure there was never a good day to meet new people. Familiar people were scary enough, new people, as evidenced by the tall man in front of her, were absolutely way less fun to meet.

Ren blushed when he said he saw her at the bakery, staring. Yes, well, that was true, she fidgeted her hands inside her hoodie, looking at the ground. She really was a scared animal, and she was awful at acting like anything else. It was…. Pathetic and she knew it, she just couldn’t change. “Uh, yeah, s-sorry, I was j-just…. S-sorry,” she said. He offered to share, “N-no, its y-yours, I don’t…. I don’t need any,” she really didn’t always eat in a given day. It was more mental than anything else. She knew some people would have forced her to eat if she admitted she sometimes didn’t, but she couldn’t get over her mental hurdles, “Th-thanks,” she added, for the offer.

She didn't want one? Well, he supposed that made sense seeing how she was seemingly terrified of him. He stood true though, that he'd bought too much for him to eat in one setting. He could save it for later that evening.... but then it was kinda like eating a day old doughnut anyway. Either option was depressing. Oh well.

"If you're sure," Raven said before turning around. There was a bench just begging to be used. And so he obliged, sitting down with a content sigh. He set the doughnut bag next to him before turning back to Ren, who was still looking down at the ground. Her hands were hidden in her sleeves, making her look meek. Meek, and oddly cute.

"You don't need to apologize," Raven said after a moment. He shifted his gaze to the ocean view that they had and smiled. The sun reflected off the waves warmly, and Raven basked in that warmth. He was very much like a lizard in that respect. A nice warm spot could be very soothing. "You had no ill will, so you did nothing wrong."

"Though, I am curios," Raven continued after a long moment passed. His eyes shifted back to hers, but his gaze held neither malice nor disdain. He wasn't judging her either, though he didn't say he wasn't either. Instead, he simply continued in a curious tone. "Why did you follow me?"

So basically Ren still sort of wanted it, but she didn’t want to get it from him. So maybe she wanted one to magically appear in front of her, that would be lovely. She should work on that…. Pastry creation magic, mmmm.

The man sat down, almost like he was allowed her to get close. Like a man with a stray cat. It was how she acted. She would sit down, let them come to her. She was absolutely not imposing, but if she was even less imposing they usually liked her. Was he doing that? Was she a stray cat? She rubbed the toe of her shoe against the ground awkwardly.

She was told, as she often was, that she didn’t need to apologize. She kept standing there. It was just a thing people did. She apologized, they said she didn’t need to. It would change nothing, but she supposed at least that was a sort of acceptance of her apology. She had no ill will, well that was right, but she didn’t say anything. Once he got through with that he started to ask something. She shifted, feeling uncomfortable before he even asked his question. Why did she follow him?

“I just, I was there, and I smelled the bread, and you bought some, and I was distracted, so I followed, but I didn’t really mean to,” she said in a quiet mumble, the words somewhat blurred together in her fast speaking. She was still shy and uncomfortable, but at least she was honest.

Ren continued to just stand there, which made Raven curious. It was like she wanted to leave and didn't at the same time. She was a strange, seemingly conflicted, little shadow mage that was probably part of some guild or other. Or just starting out... either way, Raven couldn't lie to himself. He was curios about her.

But he knew she wouldn't approach him willingly, and asking her questions didn't seem to be helping her relax any. If only he could figure out how to get her to relax and talk to him more. After all, it was strange for someone to follow someone else over just doughnuts. Maybe there was something more.

So he set his bag down on the bench next to him and closed his eyes. He was soaking in the sun with a content smile on his face. The bag was open, and the contents were untouched outside what he'd already eaten. After a long, contented sigh he opened his eyes again and focused on the sky. He had to admit, it was nice to have company once in awhile, even if that company was awkward.

"The best kind of adventure is the one you stumble on," Raven said grinning slightly. He was an adventurous man, who enjoyed when the odd and strange things happened. He supposed that's why she interested him so much at the moment. "That's what my father used to tell me when I was younger. I've found since then he's been right for the most part. My name's Raven by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Ren was pretty good at…. No, no, she wasn’t even that good at just standing there. Falling over sometimes happened even when the poor girl was just standing still. She wasn’t even that good at hiding. She was good at feeling unimportant, but sometimes people noticed her even when she would rather be invisible. Ren figured she was bad at everything. She could still feel the mild throbbing in her knee, despite it being covered by a thin layer of magic. She was bad at walking and not hurting herself, it was a fairly obvious example of her clumsiness.

She still felt like a stray cat with his food just sitting there. If she were a stray cat, she would probably run up, get the food and run off. She wasn’t a cat though, and she watched him cautiously as he started saying confusing things. Adventure? How was this an adventure? Was that even what he was saying? She squinted at him a bit, confused.

Apparently this was what his father used to say. “My father didn’t say stuff like that,” Ren mumbled awkwardly. Were she around Kotone she would have known not to mumble. Kotone had explained to her that she had amazing hearing. Ren even knew not to mumble around Kade now, or at least she would after the event. She didn’t know this man at all. “Uhm…. I’m… um, R-Ren… n-nice to meet you,” she struggled. She probably ought to just leave. It was so awkward and irrational to even stand there, but she was trapped, feeling rude would only last so long to keep her there, but running away now was even more rude. So she stood there. “Uh, d-do you live here?” she asked, trying her best to make a bit of conversation.

Raven heard the first comment she made and inwardly winced. Of course not everyone would have such a wonderful father. Well, ditching him wasn't wonderful, but he'd learned a lot from that father. That didn't mean everyone else did. So now he was feeling bad. But he couldn't apologize. Nope, that would mean admitting that he heard something normal humans couldn't hear. And that would raise suspicion about him... and that's something he didn't want. Especially since he wasn't into 'silencing' people who knew.

"Ren... that's a nice name," Raven nodded slowly as he folded his arms against his chest. He looked thoughtful for a moment when her next question came up. Just how much did he want to say? I was raised by a dragon and run around Fiore fixing things so people can live happily! Nope. Much as he'd love to not have it a secret... it was such a pain trying to keep it under wraps. He couldn't use his full power, he had to spend his whole time lying to everyone. It was tiresome sometimes.

"Nope," He answered after a moment. He would be vaguely honest, just like normal. After all, if they didn't ask, he didn't need to lie right? And telling them what you do while leaving out that one detail that didn't matter to them to begin with wasn't a lie. "I'm a wandering mercenary of sorts. I spend my time going from town to town helping people. It doesn't pay much, so I don't know why I just called myself a mercenary but oh well. I don't really have a home."

Ren’s comment about her father had been really neutral. Perhaps her tone gave away her misgivings about the man, but honestly, she hadn’t said anything negative like she could have. She could have said she hadn’t seen her father since he left. She could have said she didn’t remember the last nice thing he said to her. She could have said that her father didn’t believe in adventures, he believed in staying home, getting an education, and making something of yourself. Nothing so childish as the notion of adventure. She wasn’t going to say any of it.

“Uh, th-thanks,” she said, still feeling awkward, especially since he had said something nice. Bad things were predictable and easier to protect from. She could just shrink and accept the obvious when people said negative things. Nice things were… well… why? Why would someone say something nice. She looked at her shoes. At least she had asked a question, so now he could go with that.

Raven claimed to be a mercenary and Ren fidgeted some more. Mercenaries aren’t good people… she thought, but she felt it might not be true. It wasn’t a nice thing to say, so she didn’t. He continued by saying he went around helping people and she rubbed the toe of her shoe against the ground some more, “That doesn’t sound like a mercenary…” she said, but it had nothing to do with the money. Mercenaries were mean people, and he hadn’t proven mean just yet, “You sound like a nomad,” she offered, giving a substitute for her negative perception of a mercenary. Although, admittedly, she was speaking pretty quietly just to avoid stuttering.

“A nomad?” Raven mused as he looked away from Ren for a long moment. He let out a soft chuckle and closed his eyes. While it was true that he wandered, he didn’t usually turn down rewards for his work. Not fully anyway. He needed good food to eat, clean water to drink, and warm shelters to sleep in. Sure he could do all himself, but money did make it easier on him. “Yes… Nomad fits me rather well. Better than mercenary at any rate.”

When crimson eyes opened again they shifted back to Ren. She acted like she wanted to leave, but wasn't. And he didn’t like making people uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time people reacted poorly around him, though he suspected it wasn't so much what he did as much as what he probably represented in her mind. So he would leave her to her day.

“Welp,” He said standing up slowly. Then he stretched, yawning audibly in the process, reaching into the air with both arms. After the long stretch, which included a couple quiet popping sounds he dropped his arms back to his sides. “I suppose I should get going then. I’m sure you have things you’d rather be doing.”

“Oh and… you can have those,” Raven said referring to the last couple doughnuts on the bench that still sat in the bag. As he spoke he gave her one last grin before turning to walk away. He gave her a backhanded wave as he left her, and the bag behind. “Consider it thanks for stopping to talk to a lonely nomad.”

Ren didn’t know how she felt about meeting a nomad. He wasn’t a mean nomad, but then again, she didn’t know how she felt about meeting anyone. They were scary, and often times they were mean. She’d met some nice people too, sure, but she usually hid from them. She hid more from the nice ones than the mean ones. Nice people were polite, and scared her, and confused her, and then… if she let herself get attached, bad things happened. Mean people were just so much easier. All she had to do was do what they said, and not cry in front of them. Right?

The big scary man said that he would be on his way. She could get back to her day. Her ever so interesting day full of… uh… being hungry. She was immediately confused when he said she could have the pastries. What? She stared at the bag he’d left. He thanked her for talking to him. She’d hardly talked to him, really. What? She just blinked at the bag, as if it were staring her down. With a gulp, Ren grabbed the bag and ran off. She almost looked like she’d stolen it, but she hadn’t. She just headed out of town. She could eat it there, where people weren’t present.

[End]