Tracyn dropped down from the storage room situated at the top of the barn, bunches of hay under his arms. He smiled pleasantly while feeding the horses. "How are you?" He ran a hand along the mane of a horse, giving it some hay. He laughed as it lapped at his hand for more hay. "Hey hey, you gotta wait your turn for seconds!" He pat it on the head and moved to the next horse in the stable. "Here is yours, would you like some apples with that?" He scratched that one behind its ear's, its favorite spot to be scratched. He leaned against a post and looked out, his gaze flowing between the stable doors and into the calm peaceful night.

The day was at its peak; the dew evaporated from the grass, the sun high in the sky, the air fresh and clean. The air was surprisingly warm for late autumn, and the normals chills were merely whispers in the wind.

The smell of hay and dirt rose towards the loft, where Aralishia Bandaar shoveled hay into the edges of the barn where the troft stood, emptied by the mouths of hungry horses. Dusty, a chocolate brown stallion, stamped his feet as a new arrival come unto the barn. Ara slid down the ladder with ease and came up behind him as he was cooing one of the horses. It was grey in color and the pregnant mare, Lily. She knew these horses as her own best friends, as many years ago she bought a foal that was her life companion. Now she owned the stable, caring for each horse and calling them often by name, not 'girl' or 'boy' or 'horse' as many others, even her stable hands, called them.

Hello, I see you've already gotten aquainted with Lily, what might be your name? she said to him, realizing she may have been startling to the lad, especially since she didn't really belong amoung the stables, but in the wild, as with these horses. She found herself too attached and assured herself she would sell each of them to kind owners one day, ones that would remove the opression for the horses. She belonged amoung them, and on this fine day and her fey mood, she decided to come back to the stable she had ridden away from may years ago.

Tracyn jumped in surprise and turned around. "Oh-um-hi," he sputtered out in literally one second. He smiled, scratching the back of his head, "Uh..my name is Tracyn," He nodded. Turning to Lily he smiled and scratched her behind the ear. "So um..why are you here?" He knew why he was here, it was his job and all, though he might not have the business of asking her that.

Lalandria walked down the main street and glanced around for something to occupy her self by. It was too early to begin her work as entertainment at the inn and she did not feel like traveling farther that day. Then she spotted the stables, not that she could have easily missed them. She walked towards them, recalling the horses in the inn's stable that her father had worked at. They had been her friends and sanctuary many times after her father's beatings.

One shone in her memory more than any others. A merchant had spent the night there and left a black beauty of a gelding that he said had a temper to over come what ever girly appearance the gelding had. Lalandria had entered the stable, cuts bleading and bruises making every movement a discomfort, when she had spotted the horse. He had let her enter his stall and stroke his smooth, warm coat. She had slept in his stall all night. He had protected her even when her father had come in search of her in the night, as drunk as usual. The cook ended up taking him inside once he had passed out after yelling at the horse, who sent a bite or kick his way when ever he tried to grab Lalandria. She had woken early in the morning and left before the merchant ever found out. Later she found out his name had been Cape and forever he would shine in her memory as glimmer of hope that perhaps kindness was not lost in the world.

As she entered one of the largest stables, her gaze first traveled over the horses and the sadness of never having learned to ride rose up within her. With her second glance she spotted two people farther down the stable. She moved closer and saw that one looked surprised that the other had spoken to him. She moved closer but stopped several stalls down and stroked the soft nose of a horse that had whickered as she approached. A blaze ran down his face and his ears were perked forward at the sight of someone coming over to pay attention him. A small smile rested upon her lips as Lalandria gazed into his large brown eyes. The voices of those farther down could still be heard but her distance gave the impression that she was out of hearing distance.

Tracyn noticed somebody entering the stables and as soon as he saw her his face turned a deep shade of red. He spun around, hopping she hadn't seen and tried to calm down. He had grown up around animals, he never had seen many girls his age before. Perhaps it didn't help that she was pretty too. He bit his lip, trying hard to push down the red tint. He turned around, still nervous. "Uh H-h-hi," He stuck his hands in his pockets and nervously smiled.

Lalandria looked up in surprise when she heard the boy say something. It took her a second to realize what he had said. He had said it rather oddly. She turned away from the horse in front of her and looked at him with a small tilt to her head that caused her loosely curled hair to spill over her shoulder. Her face looked slightly confused as she still tried to figure out why he had said hi that way. Did he have a speaking problem or something? Either way, she put a friendly smile on her face.

"Hello," she replied.

He steadied his speech, calming down. "Hello, could I ask as to why you are in here? Looking for horses?" He crossed his arms, looking over Lily for a moment. He copied her head tilting in almost a game of copycat. He smiled warmly, refined by the main horse sells man as he could be called, into an a tool for customer snatching. However he only did this unconsciously, and it lost none of its original kindness.

The dust swirled in the air as Lalandria entered the stable. Ara protectively placed an arm on Lily.

"Hello" she said to the nervous stable boy.
"Hello, could I ask as to why you are in here? Looking for horses?"
Ara nearly pursed her lips when the stable boy acted as if he owned her stable.

I am afraid, that, at the moment, these horses aren't for sale she replied cooly, secretly now trusting Lalandria with one of her precious horses.

OOC: Sorry, really pressed for time.

He nodded, "Apologies," He looked around, "I was just told to say that.." He turned back to the hay, "I should get back to work, don't want to cause any trouble..." He started for the hay stacks. So many horses to feed, it was hard at times but he loved the work. He felt more comfortable in the stables than in the town anyways. He climbed up the ladder, taking a last glance between the two women before burying his work in hay. He came back down shortly, with as much hay as he could carry, and passed over to the unfed horses.

(Why you always gotta get irritated with me D: )

Lalandria's smile widened at the boy's change of actions, them being more of what she was acostomed to. She was about to reply when a voice came from the woman he had been talking to and the smile was wiped of her face. The boy left to care for the horses and Lalandria felt a streak of irritation at him. Why didn't he stand up to the woman?

Lalandria moved closer, recognizing the woman from the night when she had been out with Sorte and Drake. Her eyes traveled over her and saw the defensive arm over the horse. Why was she being defensive? Lalandria was obviously no threat and her friendly actions to the horse earlier should have proved that. No one had ever felt the need to defend someone else from Lalandria. Yes, she would and had killed many people in defence, and if they died she would take their belongings, but it had been their choice to attack her. It hurt her. She would never kill out of cold blood, and had never been accused of such a thing. She would never hurt someone else for the the joy or entertainment it gave. She herslef had been the but of such things way to many times.

"I am not here to buy a horse. I just remembered horses I knew before and wished to glance in and say hello. I don't have the money for one any way. I see I am not welcome to this establishment. I would like to know why," Lalandria said, her voice going icily cold.

The protective arm had been to much. Never had she had a protector but once, Cape and his beautiful features. She knew she would never have one again. Deep down, the girl that had never been allowed a childhood wanted to know why some one was kicking her away, again, like so many times before. She let her self ask the question but kept it cold, detached. How dare they, ran through her mind as she changed her guilt, that was there for no reason, the feeling of being rejected, and above all her loneliness into frozen anger that would protect her from any more hurt and make her strong.

Tracyn had been watching, seeing her change in demeanor. "Are you alright?" He tilted his head in curiosity. He had quickly finished feeding the horses, something he achieved after a long time of working with them. He walked over, and smiled reassuringly though he kept a look of concern. "I don't mind you being here, though its not my word that has the official answer." he looked at Aralisham, the owner. He hopped she could stay for a while, he didn't have many friends that were his age and he liked the company.

Her smile, though fake, was impossible to tell apart from her true one,had returned to grace her face. The smile was a bit different though, a tinge of sadness to it, that had not been there before. The sadness and tradegy had always been her strong point in her performances, and like when she sang the sadness just added another layer of beauty to her.

"That is kind of you, but it must be my dress," Lalandria said, and touched her fingerip to his cheek before starting to move away, the sunlight that poored in from the stables' entrance catching gold and red fire in her hair. Before she was turned all the way she stopped and looked back right at Aralishia. The sunlight outlined her and caught her face perfectly, showing it fully and making every emotion that crossed over it more vivid and seemingly more real than usually thought possible. The gold and green flecks shown out of the nearly black eyes like the last few orbs of light in an endless whirlpool of darkness

"If I was the owner of the establishment I too, perhaps, might have been worried at the entrance as someone as poor as me, but not all of us are born lucky," she said sounding and looking feyish in the sunlight, before sending another sad smile the stable hand's way and turning to leave.

Tracyn growled in irritation, not at Lalandria but at the elf that drove her away. He didn't care if he would get in trouble for it and he followed after. He caught up with her quickly. "You sure move fast.." He smiled, scratching the back of his head. "Mind if I come along?"

OOC: May I make a note that Ara is frustrated with you, not me. The same goes with Lalandria. I love ya', your posts are always so wonderful and long. And it's A-r-a-l-i-s-h-i-a, not Aralisham. (Points to typo) :xmaslaugh: Or Ara. Ara works. But generally only referred to by friends and such. Ah well.

IC:

"...not all of us are born lucky..."

As the light glistened off her hair as she retreated from the stable, Ara stood, dumbfounded, by what she had said. Aralishia Bandaar had no house, no dwelling place, no family she could retreat to, no friends, and above all, she too was in pursuit of gold, though none was for herself. She glanced town at her old, dusty, torn, brown cloth draped about her torso, then to her torn black pants, faded gray. How dare she, Ara was by no means buried in gold, nor did she have enough to buy a descent sword, or even sharpen it. She realized it was running dull.

She flowed out of the stable with haste, not even checking the locks to the stable. After all, these horses were loyal and loved both the people of the stable and their own dwelling place.
She caught up with them within a moments time, and begun, her outrage fading into a state of piqueness.
I wasn't born lucky, nor will luck ever be in my favor, thank you. I work hard for what little I have, and none of my gold goes to what I may need or want. Tell me, do you have a place to rest your head at night, a family to retreat to, or a place to feel at home? Tell me about luck.

OOC: Don't worry, I love rping with you and the annoyance is all Dria. No worries, I always understood. :xmaswink:

IC: Lalandria looked down at the stable hand and a true smile entered her face. How silly of him, to leave a job as good as he had and risk getting the employer angry with him. Why he left, had Lalandria completely confused. She wasn't used to this, unless they were trying to rob her, and the boy, even though he was her age, didn't seem like one to run of with the little she had, which in a grand total consisted of her lyre and the clothing on her back. She opened her mouth to tell him so when the elf ran up to them and sent a tirade Lalandria's way that was probably meant to make her cringe.

Instead of cringing the speech had sent her hackles sky high, in a matter of speech. How dare she assume that Lalandria had any such thing. A family? Well, if you count an abuse father that had used her as a punching bag and felt for her less than anyone had ever felt for such an object as family, then maybe you could count that. She hadn't seen him sense her eleventh birthday. With the thought of her father, disgust rose within Lalandria like a wave. A place to rest her head? Most of the time, now a days, she managed to get an inn keeper that would allow her an area before the hearth or stable for her to sleep in, in exchange for entertainment for his guests, but when that didn't come around, it usually meant an alley in the city. As for home? Lalandria had never had the full meaning of the word, somewhere safe to sleep, eat.

"Luck? You say you are not lucky? Let me tell you about luck, you have enough to eat and a fine establishment that brings you the money, even if it might not be much. A house or soemwhere to sleep? Look at yourself, if you own that stable you can sleep there and the horses are your family. What do you need more?" Lalandria said with a snort, as she slowly stalked closer to the other elf.

"And how dare you even assume that I have any of that? Do I look like I have a home? As for family, the father I had was no family, and if the way you sound you were an orphan, don't even think he was better than nothing, I lived as and orphan for several years, once he kicked me out, and I know, it is better, if not by much, but still better. I work my self to the bone just to get enough food to survive and luckily with the work I do it usually means a place to sleep out of the elements, but I can't get even that all the time. Do not complain to me about your life," she said, her voice and body quivering in anger.

She held onto the anger, because she knew if she didn't she might just collapse into tears. With the thought of her father came too many unbearable memories of a trust that never exsisted broken and no such thing as a childhood. The scars that covered her body began to crawl under her clothing, making her want to run away, be alone and safe. The problem was she couldn't survive if she did that, and if there was one thing that mattered more to Lalandria than anything else, it was survival.

Tracyn was speechless, he understood not having much, as he had. But he had a family, one that loved him too. He couldn't imagine not only not having one but being rejected from it. It was a depressing thought and he wondered how she could bear it.

He hesitated from trying to give her a comforting hand, afraid that it might upset her further. So he he let it drop, concern written over his face. He cast his gaze down, fumbling with a sentence in his mind that might not seem ignorant or uncaring so he just stopped. He took one step closer, just in case, though.

Lalandria saw movement out of the corner of her eye and whorled around, her eyes wide, thoughts of her father still occupying her mind and making her jumpy. When she saw it was the stable hand and his expression of concern on his face. She felt her anger increase at this, taking it for pity, but suddenly it all just drained, her anger, sadness, the feeling of sickness that always filled her at the thought of her father, all left, just leaving her cold and uncaring.

This was an emotion she had experienced enough times before, when emotion felt like it might overwhelm her, she just went cold. Nothing could hurt her then, she knew, she had gone through enough things when in that state and always thought clearly without the loss of sense through emotion. This was when she was strong, when she could do anything. Her stance changed into one that was relaxed but some how dangerouse, a mountain lion waiting for it's prey to walk by.

"Well my lord and lady, I must go and see, if perhaps, the innkeeper will be nice enough to add in a meal if I start early today, though there might not be many customers," Lalandria said, her voice cool and polite. She then pulled off a courtier's bow with a flourish and made a movement as if she was moving away.

He looked around him for a second before throwing out a sentence, "I'm sure you could stay over at my family's house." He bit his lip, hopping he hadn't said the wrong thing. It just was so sudden, he didn't think it through. He rocked back and forth nervously, not quite sure how she would react.

Lalandria looked back at him in surprise. Well that was sudden, she thought to herself as her eyes assessed him. He was rocking back and forth in a way that reminded her of a small child. It slightly amused her and for some reason sent a streak of warmth toward him. What was that? To distract her self from the feeling, she considered his motives. What was running through his mind? Was it pity or something different, darker, more real? What had made him offer such a thing? And most importantly, why had he offered it to her?

"I have already made a deal with the innkeeper that for entertainment I can sleep by the hearth, and I wouldn't want to impose myself upon your family," she said an apologetic smile on her face, and under it, if you were keen enough to notice it, was an undercurrent of confusion.


Lalandria looked and was caught in indecision. He seemed kind enough, she thought to herself as she looked him up and down once more. Kindness is just a lie, something to play and trick you with, another voice whispered to her, the voice that had saved her so many times before. But Lalandria thought to herself it couldn't hurt, would it, to tell him he could see her instead at the inn. The kid had caught her intrest and now she knew if she didn't get answers, they would torment her for days to come.

"You could always come and see me at the inn tonight," she added hesitantly.

He was different and she wanted to know why. She told herself that it was so she could learn how to deal with men like him. If she did, she might be able to move to higher level inns and perhaps get closer to her dream of becoming a lord's or lady's personal bard. One day, a voice full of longing ran through her mind, echoing her deepest longing.

Tracyn nodded with a smile on his face, "Sure," He nodded. The stablehand was slightly confused himself, he didn't quite understand why he was doing this but it felt right. "Which inn are you staying at?" He crossed his arms in a reaction to the increasing cold. The stable hand looked back to the stables for a moment, then back to her for the answer.

OOC: Please don't post so rapidly that Ara is left out. :xmassad:

IC: Stemming with anger, Ara thought for a second of storming off. No, Dria wasn't getting off that easy.

The owner of that stable gave the establishment to me in his will. I love the horses, but they must all leave eventually, and I have left them, as not only is this town not safe, but it... ...brings about far too painful memories.

She didn't finnish her sentence, but merely stared at the woman, waiting for a response. She had always hated people. The arrogant ones at least.

OOC:
"No, Dria wasn't getting off that easy."
:xmastongue: Lol
So you can enjoy my brand of ironic humor:
Ara might be the most arrogant, self absorbed person I have ever met (This is, so she appears. She really does have a heart of gold, but she has forsaken it in the sake of protection. Gold gets stolen.

OOC: Sorry, I got caught up in the rp and all. :xmasshovel: Lalandria is the way she is for the same reason. :xmasgrin: Dria has never had the chance to show the heart underneath, though. *tear* Oh and below, what Dria says is all her, I love your posts. :xmassmile:

IC: Lalandria smiled at the boy's reply. Fantasic, she thought to herself. Of course Aralishia had to bud in. Dria sent her a look with her brows drawn slightly together.

"My point is just proven again. You are lucky to know someone enough to be put in the person's will. If you are going to sell all the horses, then atleast you have sometime to broaden your choices on what to do and get experience from them. Don't keep running yourself into a wall, it's pointless. Anyway, no where is completely safe," Lalandria said sounding slightly exasperated at this.

Why did someone want to prove how unlucky they were? Dria had replied because the woman had personally assaulted her point, but she had to keep knawing at it any way, didn't she? The wind had picked up and Lalandria smiled, her eyes closed for a moment, loving the feeling of the cool air running through her hair. It was turning nippy and she had nothing else to warm her by, but she had felt worse before. She opened her eyes once more and looked straight at the woman before her, the glints in her eyes were hidden in shadow and instead her eyes only remained whirl pools of darkness, with no light to shine the way.

"Don't knaw at a bone that has already been spent. It helps you in no way and just wastes time," she added before turning her gaze back to the stable hand.

"What is your name, by the way? I'm Lalandria, but I prefer to go by Dria," she said holding out her hand and a friendly smile resting upon her lips once more. Her face perposefully turned away from the other elf, but she was prepared incase anything happened.

Tracyn nodded, shaking her hand. "Tracyn, nice meeting you Dria," He smiled looking into town, "So what inn are you staying at?" The stable hand then looked back at the stables, eying the horses that were visible from the windows. He rubbed his hands to generate some warmth, it was getting cold.

IC: Lalandria smiled at his reply. She glanced over her shoulder at Aralishia and returned to look back at Tracyn, her smile wider.

"I will be at the Kaiman Inn," she replied her eyes, now that the shadow of the cloud had moved on, were flickering playfully.

"And it was my pleasure to meet you," she said, with a playful bow and a changed smile to resemble the playfulness shown in all her other actions.

Her back tingled behind her with the feel of the woman there. Perhaps she should invite the woman? That might end the amnesty between them. It was always safer to be friends with someone. Reluctantly she turned back to face Aralishia.

"If you want, you could come join us. Perhaps I could convince the innkeeper to give a round of free drinks to us," she said, her playful smile gone replied by a face of neutrality.

OOC: I hope this isn't leaping ahead of you Aralishia.

Tracyn nodded excitedly, "Alright, I'll see you there. Just gotta tidy up in the stables and stuff. I'll see you there then!" He ran off towards the stables, waving goodbye for now. He wanted to get his work done as quickly as possible so he could head over sooner.

Lalandria looked after him, a bit shocked at his sudden leave-taking. She absentmindedly returned his wave. For a moment her gaze followed his return to the stables. The longing in her heart for a regular job such as he had felt like a blow. She mentally pictured herslef being knocked to her knees by the force of it.

She turned her face back to Aralishia and awaited her answer, both yearning and dreading the other woman's reply. A double edged sword, Lalandria thought to herself, as she gazed back at the woman with an appearence of patience. Inside her emotions were rolling around and beginning to build. She wasn't sure what to expect, what she wanted, and most importantly, and what scared her the most, was she didn't know what she was doing. For once in her life she used fear to steady her herslef and keep her balanced on the thread between emotion and insanity. A thread she wlaked all to often and for too long in her life.