The warmth of the sand was pleasing, and he enjoyed each step taken across the shore. Occasionally he paused to bury a few of his toes, shielding them from the cool breath of nature and soaking them in the earth's soothing heat.

It made him smile.

White strands rippled behind his head in a wave-like cast. From time to time he had to brush a few of the strands from his eyes so that he might peer out onto into the endless blue. The wind gently caressed his smooth skin, and seemed to enjoy toying with his hair. He didn't mind, as each breath of the wind and ripple of the ocean brought contentment to his mind. These days, it was the simple things.

This day he wore no armor, simply a white long-sleeved tunic unbuttoned in the front along with loose, flowing white pants. With his own hoary fibers, Avennian was akin to a ghost, save for his icy eyes. Those eyes, which had seen so much; good and bad. Some he could stand to forget, though he would never let himself. Even if he could succeed in pushing less-than-favorable memories to the back of his mind, Avennian knew that he would never know where he was going unless he knew where he'd been.

Where was he going, you ask? To fight.

Avennian had spent too long missing in action. His ascent to Aman had been ill-placed, though while he was gone much had taken place within the mind of the former guardian. Another war had been taking place, and as he thought about it now the gaze of those blue eyes was cast to the ground. High up in the air, a bright white phoenix cried out, and Avennian paused to look up. The wind blew hard, and his eyes narrowed to keep stray sands from hindering his vision. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and opened them again.

It was a beautiful day.

For the first time in a loooong time, Drake was... happy. He smiled, walking happily down the shore along the lake, or sea, or whatever it was. He didn't care, he never did. But this time, the apathy was his happiness. Not much could screw up his mood, and it would surely take a lot to make him draw his sword. Of course, he didn't have a sheath, so his sword was backwards, held in his left hand, dangling about as he walked. He had spotted the man minutes ago, and was finally approaching him, despite walking at a fast pace. He waved with his right hand, turning to look out upon the beautiful day sky/sea combination. Nothing had ever been so pretty, not even his sword's blade in the rising sun's light. His cloak was on, his lack of shirt apparent, and his sandals resting comfortably on his feet, a little sand wedged in his toes. He smiled again, looking at the man, ignoring the annoying bird above them. Something about the man seemed calm, at peace... and yet sad, or lamenting. Not from this land, Drake spoke in his "happy" slang (as he usually spoke the local tongue)
"What's up with you? Having a nice stroll?"

Winter gazed upwards, spotting the pure white bird circling in the sky a short walk from her. For most people it was rare to see a phoenix, especially a white one and certainly most people would either admire it or try to hunt it for their own selfish gains. Winter however felt none of these desires from her point of view it was just another creature living its life as it saw fit. Possibly if Winter had been someone else she may have been jelous of the creature, freely soaring through the air as it wished.

She turned her gaze back down to earth, sitting on the sand and looking ahead of her with a pair of cold, blue eyes. At a single glance she might appear sad or lonely, however Winter had a habit of using expressions unsuited to the few emotions she was able to feel. For a few weeks now Winter had been searching for a powerful magical weapon in order to try and end any wars she might come across and prevent unnecissary battle and death, ever since her last attempt failed and left her with nothing but a few bad burns and more people holding a grudge against her.

Winter sighed, she was not as strong as she expected herself to be, and strength was a vital element in her self appointed mission. For the moment the best solution she saw was an alliance with the guild, B.A.D.I, since they seemed to focus on almost the same things she did. However Winter never held grudges or alliances, so if the guild somehow went against her goals she would have no choice but to go against them at the same time and she was keen to avoid a battle she could avoid easily.

After a long time of thinking she stood up, brushing sand off her legs and wandering along the sand. She still wore her regular sleevless tunic, brown boots and the ever present 'X' shaped scabbard on her back holding two katanas, she didn't really look like she was off for a day at the beach at all. In truth she would admit to needing a break, her life was incredably rough and her emotionless personality made it very easy to gain unwanted enemies that she'd rather be without. As she walked she looked down at the sand, recounting recent events in her mind as she did so. She looked up and noticed the elf standing under that phoenix she'd noticed before, standing on the sands, quite content with his surroundings. Winter didn't show any signs of surprise or greeting, she just stopped and stared at him, taking in his features. White hair, blue eyes. He seemed pretty plain from Winter's point of view, as did everything else. She didn't have many intentions of saying hello, so she merely carried on walking, her face remaining blank and emotionless.

Frozen eyes narrowed as another approached, and an eyebrow arched with amusement at the other's speech. Some time ago, Avénnian may have been wary of the man, being that he carried a sword in his hand. However, he had learned that it eased the formation of a relationship if one could toss in a pinch of trust. Some may have answered that it was better to be safe than sorry, and Avénnian would not argue the opinion. He simply believed that it was never good to rattle the cage of any relationship unless it was necessary. Thus, in response, he smiled.

"Aye, sir." Avénnian looked out to the ocean, then cast a glance up to the sky. "And what a beautiful day to do so, hmm?" He laughed a bit, but his attention was quickly grabbed as something moved in the corner of his eye. Turning his head a bit, Avénnian's gaze fell upon that of an angel, or so he presumed. Her eyes fell on him as well, and for a few moments they watched each other. His vision, however, was focused more on her blank, almost mindless, expression than any other thing. She spoke not, and he peered at her curiously for a few moments longer. With a faint smile he looked back to the man in front of him.

"Quiet one, is she not?"

With those words he turned a bit, just as the wind picked up and sent his hair and clothes into a frenzied billow. He put his hand into the air to wave and smiled at the passing angel. "Hello there. How are you?" In truth Avénnian wondered what it was about the angel. A gut feeling told him that something was bothering her, a skill that many years as a devoted cleric latently passed to him. She had not seemed so enthused about seeing them when passing, so he would not bother her if she chose not to speak. Even though he was not the same as he was before, the kindness in Avénnian remained chained to his heart. Thus, if someone had a problem he always looked to help, as the elf had always dedicated himself passionately to his chosen field of work.

This, coupled with very recent experiences, is what made up this new personification. No longer did he seek only to purge evil as an advocate of holiness. His focus primarily targeted to help others in whatever way possible. The elf believed this to be the true goal of holiness, and likewise, his personal calling. These days when Avénnian received the grace of meeting others, he would never pass them by without a word of kindness. This was especially so since the ominous prophecy gripped foreboding fingers upon his life, and he would not allow his existence to fade away without fulfilling his acclaimed duties to the best of his ability.

(ooc: I hope it's alright for me to join here)

ic:

Valynna had decided to have some alone time away from her master. In fact, she felt as if her master need some time alone, besides, the coast line was pretty large and Valynna couldn’t help but see where it might lead her. She had to admit, since joining Zanthia, she had seen more sights then she did by herself. Perhaps it was because Zanthia pushed her more into the open, showing her towns and cities that Valynna would otherwise avoid. Now it seemed Zanthia had taken her to yet another place of beauty, but Valynna would never tell this to her, nor to anybody else.

She walked down the sandy coast, wearing her high boots not caring that the rolling waves passed over them. Her clothes were nothing spectacular, a skirt that came just around her mid-thigh, a light colored tunic overtop approximately the same height of her skirt. Strips of cloth where wrapped around her hands and up her arm. Her black hair laid loose around her head falling down to her waist, the wind off the sea blowing it wildly around. As for her staff, which she rarely left alone sat on her shoulders with both arms resting on it.

Her mind was in a haze as she approached the group who gathered in front of her. She didn’t pay any attention to them, they didn’t seem to attract the sort of interest that made Valynna want to interact with them. Except for the white phoenix. It was it’s song that made her stop, just by coincidence beside the two males, and open her eyes skyward to where the bird flew overhead. Valynna had never seen a white phoenix before, and continued to stare at the sight above her.

Winter continued walking past the two men, seeing through them as though they weren't there, despite taking a detailed look at the elf a few moments before. As she drew closer the elf spoke to her, using an informal greeting. Winter stopped and turned her head to look at him, a look of small surprise showed on her face for a second before it was gone, replaced by a narrow-eyed gaze. A person who didn't know Winter would probably automatically mistake the expression one her face to one of slight hatred, but a person close too her would probably shake it off as a simple glance. Winter felt few emotions, and her expression didn't help by displaying an emotion she wasn't feeling or couldn't feel.

So contrary to most people's opinions Winter was not glaring at the elf in hate just because he spoke to her, it was merely how she looked at almost everyone who addressed her, whether she knew them or not. She looked away again, staring directly in front of her but addressed the elf.
"Does it matter?" She replied "what do you care for a complete stranger?"
She looked back at him, this time adopting a piercing gaze and looking directly at him. He was certainly taller than her, most people were, and held himself in a more confident fashion. While looking directly at him, Winter noticed that his eyes were almost the same color as hers, however his pupils were perfectly normal whereas hers looked more like they belonged in a snake's eye.

"If it's that important to you then I'm perfectly fine," she replied "but I don't really see how this would bother you in any way."
Of course Winter had been lying, however in truth she was unable to tell her own feelings and therefore whatever was bothering her subconscious mind was having absolutely no effect on her conscious one. It was hard for a person like Winter to understand feeling, even her own.