Kogata was gradually getting used to her life in the streets of Lómëdor, she no longer lost sleep from lying on hard ground and had a descent knowledge of all the back alleys and hiding places in a small area, thus she was able to sneak about unnoticed by anybody and without the risk of her paranoia setting in whenever people turned her way. It wasn't all bad, she often hung around Lómëdor square and waited for people to drop food or sometimes even manage to sneak some from somebodies shopping, always making sure they had too much already to miss what she had stolen. So far Kogata had had a relatively stable diet of dried bread crumbs and potatoes, although she had no idea what they were called. It wasn't exactly the most healthy of diets and Kogata still went to sleep hungry each night.

If it wasn't for her beloved dragon, Kyte, Kogata would doubtless have just let herself waste away in silence and not even bother to feed herself, but the mere idea that there was someone in the world who had strong feelings for her was enough to help her carry on each day and live as best she could, Kogata would be lost without her dragon, however small he may be he was probably the best friend the small elven girl had.

That night however, Kogata's misfortunes were only going to get worse. She had not yet gotten used to Lómëdor's cooler temperatures (having been raised in a desert) and was always shivering at night, but this time the weather was a lot worse: A vicious wind howled through the streets, carrying the cold air with it and blasting it into the faces of whoever stepped in its way and if that wasn't bad enough sheets of heavy rain were falling from the sky, quickly dampening anything that wasn't already sheltered. Kogata had managed to find refuge away from most of the wind in one of the back alleys she so often occupied but there was no escaping the rain. It pounded the roofs of the buildings around her and fell into her pathetic little shelter and within minutes Kogata was soaked through and shivering worse than ever.

As always all her little dragon could do was panic, he was not so vulnerable to the wet temperatures but his small size was an incredible disadvantage in the strong wind and he was mostly afraid of being blown away. Suddenly the tiny creature had a brainwave and fluttered down, nudging Kogata in the arm to try and get her to move. Kogata looked down at the dragon, surprised by his sudden action.
"Kyte?" She asked "What's wrong?"
Kyte didn't answer but continued to nudge his companion, eventually succeeding in turning her about and then beginning to nudge her in the back in an attempt to move her forwards.
"Kyte!" Kogata repeated.

She stumbled forwards slightly but didn't budge any further than that, Kyte didn't give up however. He flew over Kogata's shoulder and towards the exit of the alley.
"Kyte!" Kogata called after him.
She ran after the tiny creature, not wishing to lose her best friend in the storm. The full effects of the wind caught both of them as they exited the alleyway: Kyte was nearly blown away by the sheer force of it and Kogata just managed to reach out and grab him, barely managing to avoid being blown away herself. She really needed to find a collar for the tiny dragon.

The fly dragon began to struggle in the small girl's arms, attempting to lead her further down the street, Kogata eventually got the message and charged down the road in the direction he was struggling. It didn't help that her tattered old cloak and her long pigtails were being thrown about in the wind and constantly getting in her face and eyes, she had to keep her vision clear with one hand and prevent Kyte from becoming a real Kite with the other.

It wasn't a pleasant journey but Kogata eventually saw what Kyte had been trying to lead her to: The great oak doors of the Parmamar Library loomed before her, darkened and distorted by the rain but still as magnificent as alway. However upon seeing it Kogata began to back away.
"I'm not going in there!" She complained down at the tiny dragon "There's people in there and..." She broke off.
Kyte didn't give in, however, and kept trying to struggle from Kogata's grasp.
"Oh fine then,"
Kogata ran forwards, keeping Kyte clutched to her chest and reached the oak doors, pushing them open and stumbling inside.

She was wet, cold and had an extremely grubby face so it wasn't surprising that as soon as she walked in she found several stares directed her way. She froze on the spot momentarily, glancing about at the people like a cornered rabbit before advancing further into the majestic building. She homed in on one of the fireplaces that wasn't occupied by anybody and flopped down in front of it, not even bothering to sit in one of the chair surrounding it. She let the warmth of the dancing flames wash over her and felt a sudden relief flow into her, and so for the first time in ages she gave a smile before teetering over and falling asleep on the floor.

Lyon, who was sitting in a comfortable chair in the Parmammar library, glanced outside as rain poured down in a great torrent, drenching those that had been unfortunate enough to be wandering outside when it began. Many people rushed inside for shelter, their soaking wet clothes bringing much of the water with them. The librarians were furious, but they could deny entry to none, and therefore had to take up the task of making sure that none of the newcomers got water on the books.

"Looks pretty rough out there." he commented to one blonde-haired man that was sitting nearby.

"Yeah," the man responded, nodding. "Pretty foul weather, this season. The farmers might like it, but we city folk can't stand it. Just hope it lets up soon. I need to get home."

"Same here." Lyon said, a frown on his face. "I don't look forward to the idea of walking all the way to the Inn in freezing rain. Doesn't look like it has any intention of giving us mercy, though. Looks like we'll just have to grit our teeth and deal with it. I've dealt with much worse than a little rain."

The man laughed, and said, "It's quite a bit more than a 'little', if you ask me. Still, you're probably right. The wife won't be too happy if I wait much longer." He paused, and then said, in a more serious tone, "So, how's the mercenary life working for you?"

"Pretty good." Lyon answered. "I'm still alive, that's something to be happy about. Plus, the pay's decent. The only trouble is finding work. I'm not part of any troop, so I don't have any kind of publicity. I have to go to the employers, instead of them coming to me. It's not easy, finding someone willing to hire a sellsword."

"Sounds tough. You know, pirate raids have become pretty common in the ocean. Maybe you could ask around at the docks, find a merchant ship that needs a guard. You'd probably get good pay for it, and it's a minimal level of risk."

Lyon looked thoughtful. "I'll look into it." he answered.

At that moment, a young girl with a small dragon clutched to her chest burst into the library, her clothes soaked and soiled from the rain. Several of the occupants of the library gave her shocked looks, Lyon not included. He was more interested in why such a small girl had been walking alone through the streets of Lomedor. She ignored all of them and ran over to sit by herself next to a fireplace. A few moments later, she toppled over and fell asleep sprawled on the floor.

Lyon stood up and walked over to where she laid, the man to whom he had been talking following him while one of the librarians gave the sleeping child disapproving looks. "What do you think that's about?" Lyon's companion asked, motioning towards the girl.

Lyon examined her curiously, though he didn't like what he saw. Her cloak was nothing more than rags, no wonder she had went straight to the fireplace. She would probably get sick after having been out there. "Looks underfed." the man said, also looking at her. "She's probably homeless. There are an awful lot of these kinds of people, just living off of the streets. It's horrible, really...something should be done about it."

Homeless... Lyon thought, continuing to stare down at the girl. He felt a small twinge of pity in his gut, and without hesitating he removed his cloak from his shoulders and covered the girl with it, hoping that it would keep her warm. His companion gave him a look of surprise.

"That's an awfully kind thing to do." he said, smiling. "Isn't it unbecoming of a mercenary? I thought they were supposed to be hard and emotionless."

Lyon scowled at him. "She's only a child. It wouldn't be right to just leave her there and let her freeze. Besides..." his expression softened, "I know what it's like to live on the streets. It's a hard life. Having no one but yourself to rely on..." he stopped abruptly, and turned away from the girl, walking back towards his seat with quick strides. "So, tell me more about that job you were suggesting." he said firmly, intent of changing the subject. However, as he talked, he watched the girl from the corner of his eye, making sure that she was alright.

The floor of a library wasn't the most comfortable place for a small girl to be sleeping, however over the past weeks Kogata had been sleeping on hard, and often rough, ground and so she had the advantage in that she was used to it, the warm fire nearby her was also making the experience far more bearable than normal seeing as she'd been out in the cold. It was something like a relief for the small elven girl, now that she had found a place where she wouldn't freeze to death. Her dragon, Kyte, also seemed to have calmed down a good deal and was softly snoozing just next to Kogata, happy to be sleeping in warmth for a change.

He woke up when he heard the sounds of people coming closer and one of his tiny ears pricked up to try and catch the conversation between them. Of course, the dragon couldn't understand any language at all, let-alone speak it, so the motives of the two men were being purely based on the sound of their voices. Neither of them sounded pretty threatening and he didn't hear any other sounds that might point to that conclusion. After only a few moments one of the men covered Kogata with a cloak or something and the pair walked off. Kyte's ear twitched and he went back to his snooze in Kogata's arms, still keeping his ears pricked for anything suspicious that might come their way.

Kogata stirred slightly and one of her opal eyes opened a crack. She thought she'd heard faint voices in conversation but hadn't understood what they were saying, it had been rather faint and she couldn't make out any detail but it sounded as though they had been talking about her. She sat up, blinking for a few moments, and the man's cloak slipped off her. She looked down at it for a few moments, still half asleep but nonetheless surprised to see it there. She supposed she couldn't rule out the idea that it was some sort of strange creature trying to suffocate her in her sleep and immediately crawled out from under it, giving it s suspicious look.

She stood up. straightening out her skirt and top and having a short stretch before glancing about. She was glad to see that fewer people still had their eyes one her aside from one or two individuals that she wasn't too concerned with. Turning her attention to what else was around the library she thought that while she was here she may as well read, however she didn't know any of the books in here let alone anything that might interest her. She stared about for a few moments, contemplating what to do about the problem.

"Hey! You listening?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry...I wasn't paying any attention." Lyon said to his friend, coming out of his reverie. In truth, he had been thinking as he watched the young child sleeping on the floor. It reminded him of a time in his teenage years, when he had been all but helpless when it came to deciding his fate.

When his parents were killed in a series of unfortunate occurences, he had been forced out onto the streets. He had not known of any relatives that he could go to, and so thus had had nowhere to live. He was only able to rely on himself, his own skills, his own determination, to get him through those tough times. He had survived, and the experience had made him stronger. It was very possible that those years in his life had been what influenced his job as a mercenary. He knew how to survive, he had the skills he needed.

"Hey," the blonde-haired man said, jerking his head in a direction. "Looks like she woke up." Lyon glanced over, and saw that the young girl had indeed awoken, and was now standing and looking around at the library. She didn't seem at all unhinged, as a matter of fact, she looked like someone that had coomplete control over herself. "Reckon she's alright?"

Lyon shrugged. "What does it matter? It's not our concern."

The man raised his eyebrows. "Weren't you the one that was saying it wasn't right to let her freeze?"

The mercenary shurgged again. "Well, yeah, but that was just..." he struggled for a word.

A laugh was the response. "Yeah, whatever. You can act tough if you want. I won't say anything." His companion glanced outside. "Anyway," he said, sighing, "I can't stay any longer. I have got to get home, no matter the weather. I guess I'll be seeing you...if you don't die, that is." With these last parting words, the man stood up and, with a grimace on his face, walk out the doors and into the rain.

"Try not to drown!" Lyon called after him. He leaned back in his chair, wondering what he was going to do now that his primary source of entertainment was gone. He looked around, and for a brief moment considered reading, before deciding against it. Books gave him headaches.

Then he remembered the girl, who he saw was still standing in the middle of the room. "Hey!" he called out to her, trying to make his voice sound as friendly as possible. "You okay? When you came inside just now, you looked kind of rough."

Rora had not been to Lomedar in his entire life and it suprised him how easily you could get lost in the alleyways if you wanted to avoid being stared at like a peaceful rancor. Winds started whipping and wistling through the alleyways and blew his long, spikey hair around and on occasion it would whip him in his eyes. "I really need to consider a haircut." He thought aloud believing he was alone. He looked up to the sky and watched as black clouds began to form overhead. After a while he got tired of his hair whipping his eyes and he put it down the back of his shirt. So far he disliked Lomedor along with his hair. And to top it all off he was still recovering from his unfortunate incident in Estolad so various parts of his body continued to ache.

He wandered through the alleys a bit longer, listening to the thunder in the distance. It didn't concern him as much as the rain would but for now he did not need to worry. He took a few more steps down the right of an alley before getting blasted into the side of a building by the shockwave of a lighting bolt. "What in the name of Curin was that!?" he shouted as he scrambled to his feet. It was a rhetorical question but it was one he wished somebody would answer him.

Now he found himself rushing down the alley with his heart beating at his already sore chest. he eventually tired out and stopped at the conrer of two alleyways. He was sore, and bored. His stomach growled to reming him how hungry he truly was. He groaned as he cursed the weather. Then to top off his string of bad luck it began to rain. He le tout an exhausted sigh as he continued down the next alleyway.

He went down until he was stopped by a small group of three thieves, each of them spotting a dagger somewhere on their bodies. "Hey kid, aren't you a bit young to be going down these alleys?" Rora cocked a brow at the one who was speaking. "Aren't you a little old to be creeping down alleys and harassing teens?" Rora Roren said jokingly. The thief growled and his accomplises seemed like they were waiting to use their weapons.

"Look kid, I'll ignore that and maybe even give you some protection if you give us what money you have." The thief stated, making the other two grouan and roll their eyes. "Sorry, all I can give you is a whuping." Rora said with a coy smile. The thief charged him and Denanem just raised his knee and placed it firmly in the thief's groin. The thief dropped to the ground and the other two unsheathed their daggers and charged Rora who began to run down a differant alley.

They chased after him but he continued to elude them, he ran for at least half an hour, forcing his body past it's limit. The wind picked up and Rora found himself soaring through the air. He stopped on a wall by some strange luck. "What is this!?" He shouted. The two thieves stopped and gazed upon him standing on the side of the wall. The wind from the storm somehow kept him up there. Now the first thief came up and skidded into a wall while trying to look upon the teenager stuck to the wall.

A moment passed before the wind died down and dropped the teenager onto a pile of empty crates. He forced himself up and drew his blade. the thieves tried to charge him but he struck them in the sides of their heads with the broad side of his blade. The fell unconcious and flew into a brick wall while Rora made his escape. Whatever had happened he was glad it did, otherwise things might have gone differantly. A smile was placed firmly on his face as he made his way to a large building. This building was the Parmamar Library and fortunatley Rora liked books.

He rushed through the doors and leaned over, dry heaving as it tried to reagin enough strength to move him. He took the backpack off his back andtucked it under his soaked arm. His hair was flattened from the water and fell over his face. His clothes tuck to his body and his boots had water sloshing in them. Luckily his boots were tightly made or else they would be leaking on the floor. All his bag contained was some bread and a spare set of clothes.

Piercing eyes gazed upon him and he gazed at each one of their owners. "What? Never seen a kid soaking wet before?" he complained. "On the contrary, one other child came in here soaking wet, a girl not too much younger than you." A confused look came upon Rora's face before he shrugged and wandered around until he found an empty fire, secluded in a far corner. There was a wet spot on it though. He ignored it and quickly changed clothes.

"Well, nothing better to do in a library than read some books!" Rora said happily as he made his way down some aisles. He would bring any books he found back to his bag where he kept his reading glasses but he was stopped when he stumbled over some books and fell into the middle of the room. His pain made him light headed and a bit woozy so he decided to rest. He made his way to the closest chair he could find and set his stack of books down.

He had taken a seat next to a man with a tough look and feel about him, but Rora could care less. He began to care when he noticed the man had just shouted out to a girl. Rora looked over and saw a girl with long pigtails and like the person from earlier said she wasn't to much younger than he was. He immediatly took up a book written by Solomon Grundy and began to "Read," but what he was truly doing was spying on the conversation.

Kogata stood where she was, gazing up at the towering shelves in front of her. There were enough books there to make her head spin, not that it wasn't already, and she'd probably soak them since she was still damp from the rain outside, perhaps it was mother nature's way at getting back at people who chopped down her previous trees to turn them into another object of entertainment. Kogata had never thought of it that way before and abruptly decided that she would do her utmost to give mother nature no reason to punish her at all.

So where better to start than boycotting the books in the library and not giving the mysterious anthropomorphism any reason to bear a grudge against her? She immediately turned away from the shelves and immediately felt herself beginning to calm down, she probably hadn't been this calm since...........Okay ever, yes she was one giddy girl alright.

She suddenly realized that now she had decided not to read the books she had absolutely nothing to do and indeed if the library thought she was overstaying her welcome she would be kicked out and that was something she didn't want. Gulping she wandered back over to the fireplace and sank into a half kneeling, half sitting position in front of it, gazing into the flames.

The warmth cast by the display washed over her once again and she felt the tension that constantly racked her body leave her for a precious few moments. It reminded her of home, the heat of a sandy desert, the warmth of a mother's touch and....

She broke out of her reminiscing before her mind wandered that way, she didn't want to remember that ever again, however every time she though of forgetting it the memory would just come swimming back in front of her vision like a hungry fish, a hungry and incredibly scary fish in the shape of her step father. She screwed her eyes tight and tried to force herself not to remember him, eventually managing to focus on a display of small desert rodents scurrying about her feet.

She relaxed once more and was just on the verge of going to sleep when she was startled by a voice nearby. She jumped and scrambled to her feet, turning around to see where the voice had come from. All feelings of peace and calm were instantly thrown out of the window. She immediately identified the speaker, as he was the only one looking at her and the voice would definitely suite him.
"Err...I-I'm fine, thankyou," she said nervously, she was no good with people, especially the scary looking ones.

As he waited to see whether or not the girl had heard him, and if she had, if she would even answer him. He felt, rather than saw, someone sit down next to him, and quickly glanced over to see someone with a blonde, spiky hairdo next to him. Ignoring the fellow, whoever he was, he turned back to the child that he had already addressed.

When she heard him, she jumped and spun about to see who was talking to her. Seeing him, she stuttered out a few words, saying that she was fine. Lyon grimaced at her reaction. What was she so afraid of? Was he that scary looking? He had gotten this same kind of reaction from all kinds of people. Sure, he had a few scars here and there, had three different weapons hanging from his belt, and maybe he was a little gruff, but nothing to warrant acting as though he had horns and fangs.

”Sorry,” he said, smiling at her. ”Didn’t mean to startle you. I, uhh…was just a little concerned. But you seem fine now, so, err…make sure to keep warm. You don’t want to get sick.” He realized how idiotic he must sound, even to a young kid, and quickly shut himself up. Instead of continuing to watch her, he turned around, wondering why in the name of Arda he had even said anything in the first place. He was no good with kids.

He glanced again at the person sitting in the seat next to him. There, immersed in a book, was a young, blonde-haired teenager. Lyon blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, then, in a rather amused tone, said, “What’s this? Have all the adults in the world disappeared, leaving only children behind?” He shook his head in bewilderment, then said to the boy, ”You okay, kid? You look like you’ve been through hell. It’s not safe for children to travel through Lomedor alone anymore. Where are your parents? They're probably worried about you...” At that moment, there was an echoing boom of thunder outside that made Lyon jump in surprise and reflexively reach for his sword, before he realized the source. Irritated and somewhat embarassed, he muttered under his breath, "Damned weather. I don't know what I've done to deserve this. If I have to end up sleeping in the library..." He trailed off, uttering various negative comments towards rain, thunder, and poor weather all around.

The man seemed strange when checking on how the girl was doing, tripping over his words a bit and then shutting himself up. Rora almost laughed but kept it hidden in the book, but his attention perked up when the man began to speak to him ”You okay, kid? You look like you’ve been through hell. It’s not safe for children to travel through Lomedor alone anymore. Where are your parents? They're probably worried about you...” Rora was about to respond when thunder struck, making the man jump and reach for his blade. The man then began to curse the lighting strike and pushed Rora to the dge of laughing his head off, but he remained silent.

"Finally he answered the questions, one at a time. "Yes, I'm okay, but are you? You seem rather jumpy." He said jokingly and a wide smile. "And no, not hell, just pretty close to death. I'm not too worried about it though, I mean whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger right...? Well, I guess after the pain goes away you get stronger." Rora chuckled a bit as he finally closed the book. "Oh, by the way. I'm Rora Denanem, but mospt people call me Rora Roren. I think it means traveler in some elvish language or another."

Rora kept his happy disposition, "And just because there are two kids here doesn't mean that the adaults are just suddenly dying off, at least I hope not. I'm a fan of Solomon Grundy's work." There was a pause as rora thought about the last question. "And I do not really wish to answer your last question, but I don't think Lomedor is too terribly hard if you're just passing through. Although I think those thieves I beat down may disagree." Rora was obviousley in need of somebody to talk to.

(Im posting this as if you were here, because I think that you were using "trailing off" metaphorically)

Lyon grimaced. The kid had noticed his reaction to the thunder. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Just hard to break reflexive habits. Whenever I hear a loud sound, I naturally assume that it's some kind of attempt to kill me." He listened to the kid's next words, nodding every now and then to show that he was paying attention. When he was done, Lyon spoke up again.

"Solomon Grundy? I can't say I've ever heard of him. I'm not a big book reader, you see. I prefer to be outside, traveling. Alas, the weather curses me..." He gave the kid a surprised look when he mentioned thieves. "You busted up some rouges, eh? Pretty good work for a kid." He then noticed the sword the boy had with him. Running an expert eye over it, he nodded approvingly. "That's a decent blade you have there," he told him. "I didn't start learning the sword until I was fifteen. It took me over two years to become truly competent with it, and that was while I was training under one of the best swordsmen I know. It's a simple weapon to use, but the road to mastering it is long and rigorous."

He leaned back, attempting to relax, though he was still a little on edge, and he couldn't help keeping his hand near the hilt of his sword. "So, then, Rora, what brings a young man like you to Lomedor? Maybe I can help you out. I pretty much know this place like the back of my hand, and I'm pretty well known at all of the Inns. It would be my pleasure to help a fellow swordsman in whatever his quest is."

"Ah you see, that's one half of the problem!" Rora said a bit loudly. "I I have a little personal goal but nothing bigger that I'm sure of." He grin was stretched wide as he laughed a bit. "You see, there is another type of weapon I am looking for." Rora leaned his arm on his sword a bit. "Swords, I agree, are great weapons in every way! But I used to have a Paladin friend who wielded a mighty Dwarven Hammer, specially crafted by Folir Hammerstone. He had made it especially for my paladin friend to combat darkness." Rora sighed a moment and took a moment to choose the right words to say.

"Sadly my Paladin friend died from combat while saving Ondolond. He left a will though, leaving me his hammer. So I went down to Ondolond to retrieve the hammer. Sadly, a band of thieves stole the hammer and escaped here to Lomedor. I hunted them down..." He paused as he thought og how confusing this must be. "I'm sorry, this was two years ago! I forgot to mention that. Anyways, I hunted the thieves here to Lomedor and confronted them, taking them by suprise and taking one of their long swords." Rora seemed to be showing his blade off.

"I confronted them and managed to beat them around some until they told me where the hammer was, apparently they had sold it to a weapons dealer in 'The Slums' of this city. I sought the dealer out and attempted to steal my friend's weapon back, but I only got three feet out the door when one of the dealer's guards caught me. I'm just lucky he didn't let the guard hurt me. He simply took the weapon and made a deal with me. Basically he said he would sell it to me for about 100 gold. I sadly accepted and gave up."

Rora took a moment to breath, his explanation was long and hopefully detailed enough. "Sorry this is taking so long to explain." He said sticking his tongue out a bit and giving off a goofy look. "Anyways, I went back to Ondoond and went up one of the Erad Anaon Mountains to try and reach the Annon-en-Groth Mines where Falir Hammerstone was supposed to be, but when I got there I had found he was dead in a quote-unquote 'accident' during mining. "Now here it is two years later and I barely have any gold, just 25 pieces and I'm afraid the dealer may have sold the weapon by now. One of the reasons I came here was to retrieve my paladin friend's weapon. After that, I don't really know what I'll do, but I'm hoping my life will be filled with more adventure after that."

OOC:((I must apologize for the delay. I haven't been able to get online due to internet problems.))

Lyon raised his eyebrows as Rora began to talk. Uh-oh, he thought as the kid began to pick up speed. Great. What have I started? There's no telling how long he's gonna talk. Lyon liked the kid, but a hyper, talkative teenager would unnerve anyone. However, the mercenary listened dutifully, nodding his head every now and then to show he was listening. It seemed the boy had quite a bit of adventure under his belt.

"That's a, uh...fascinating story, Rora." Lyon said once the boy had quieted himself. "It seems as though you have some experience in the world. That's a valuable thing, it will be extremely useful if you plan on continuing with this kind of life." He shook his head as he contemplated some of the details of what he had been told. "A paladin's weapon, huh? Quite a valuable item. I've no doubt those thieves you speak of got a nice price for it from the dealer. As for whether or not he's already sold it, well, there's only one simple way to find out, isn't there? Just go to the weapons dealer and check for it. If it's gone...you'll need to ask the man if he remembers who he sold it to. If he does, you can track it down. If not...you can still track it down, but it'll be loads more difficult."

He frowned as he gave Rora a scrutinizing look. "But what, if I may ask, is so important about this weapon? So important that you would chase thieves all the way across the continent and risk getting caught stealing? Surely you have a reason. It must be powerful, I am sure, but is it worth it?" As he asked this, he looked back outside. The rain was still pouring, but Lyon thought it might be lessening in intensity.