Astra walked with her head up in the crowd through the throng of busy people. Her hair was long and dark brown, lips full and pink, cheeks soft and round, eyes slightly pointed down but an intense ice blue. The crowd today was thick, some held boxes with crab and lobster, other held souviners of shells, bottles of water, many varoius things. The clouds covered her skin from the harsh sun, some people shouted for her to buy things, others just bowed. Some people were tall some short, others thin otehrs large. She herself was very small some even called her a stick as a child but the nick name now made her smile and roll her eyes. In Astra's bag was a bottle of magic water to improve eye sight.

Then through the croud she saw something, or someone that made her heart jump. A child hood friend who was kidnapped long ago and taken into the underworld, she thought she would never see him again. But there he stood, older, long black hair, chizzled features and intense eyes. Astra's ice blue eyes caught his and she held those eyse of, who coudl have been a stranger as she pushed her way thorugh the croud.

Was this handsome man indeed her long lost child hood friend? Or was she walking to a stranger whom she would be apologizing to later. Then as she got closer she knew it was him. Images of herself as a little girl and him as a young boy flashed thorugh her mind. The two playing tag and him tickleing her relentlessly. Runing after each other and giggilng with smiles on their faces...
Would he even recognise her? Now she had more womany shape, her legs were longer, her hair softer, would he know her now that she was not seven but eighteen?

Then, before she knew it. There he stood inches infront of her. It was him, she knew it was him it had to be him. She stood infront of him shock plastered on her face. Her skirts ruffled as she took a step to him, and reached out her gloved arms to hug him but she stopped, still needing to make sure she put her hands back to her sides. "Bane, is this really you?" She asked in a hushed sigh.

Bane was lost. Terribly.

It was ironic and pathetic, really. Here he was, back at the city that had been his childhood home. This was the city in which he had grown up, where he had run errands for his parents and roamed with his friends. Lomedor had always been, to Bane, the entire world. He had never ventured outside it's gates, for Ea was a dangerous place for boys as young as he was at that time. And so he had stayed within the safe confines of the city, and had come to know the place like the back of his hand.

Yet, so much had changed during those eleven torturous years. There were new buildings, new people, new roads. It didn't help that his memory had faded in that hellish place. Now, he could hardly remember how to get inside the city, let alone how to get around it. After ten minutes of venturing outside the small inn he had rented a room at, he was already looking around, dumbfounded, searching for some landmark that he could recognize. He judged his location to be a port of some sort, judging by the many large boats docked here. With that knowledge, he determined himself to be on the east side of the city. Beyond that, he had no clue where he was. A miserable sigh escaped his lips.

His thoughts were soon to be interrupted, however, as his paranoid instincts sensed someone behind him. He didn't turn around, but his body stiffened, as he waited to see if whoever it was would pass. What he didn't expect, however, was for a feminine voice to speak his name.

"Bane, is this really you?"

Alarmed, Bane turned around...and froze. There was a girl around him, a rather young one at that. While this fact would be considered peculiar in itself to most, that wasn't what startled the black-haired man. What made his breath catch was that this particular female was very familiar to him. His tired brain might have forgotten some details, but memories of his friends from the past were one thing he had never let go of.

"You...." he began hesitantly, trying to figure out where he had seen her before. "Don't I know...?"

Suddenly, it came to him. Of course he knew her! This was Astra! Memories came flying back to him, recalling all the times she and the rest of his friends had rampaged about the city. They had been quite the nuisances back then. Just thinking about it caused the corner of his mouth to kick up. But now was not the time for reminiscing. For this was not wishful thinking. The girl stood not but three feet away, right before his very eyes!

"Astra!?"

Looking over her, he was amazed. To think that this was the little girl he had known so long ago! She hadn't been but half his age when those cretins came to take him and his sister away. Bane shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Was this real, or was his mind playing tricks on him? He felt the need to say something, yet no words came to mind. Anxiously, he watched her. His mind was already in shock, anything he said would undoubtedly come out as random gibberish. Best to let her do the talking.

At first he looked lost when he gazed into her eyes, confused, and when he asked if he knew her it broke her heart a little that he did not know her right away. But she couldnt really blame him, he had been gone for a long time, stolen away from his home town. Stolen from his friends and family. But then she watched as slow relization came to his face and it made her smile.

"Astra!?" He asked clearly taken aback that she was grown now, older than seven. But he also looked at her like he was a ghost, after all how could he not. She had not seen him for years. He had not seen her for years, they had both changed.

But from the moment he said her name she couldnt hold it back and she took a couple fast steps toward him and wraped her arms around him and pressed her body agasint his as if to make sure he was really there, not just a part of her imagination playing tricks on her from her past. But no his muscles were solid under her fingers. He was solid, tanigble. Real.

Quickly suddenly feeling embarassed she pulled away putting a couple feet distance from him and her. She smiled broadly at him. "You left us! You were taken so long ago, now your here again! you back! I'm so sorry I hugged you like that I should have given you warning. In fact you dont have to discuss where you were if you dont want to I'm sure it was aweful. I'm soo sorry..." Astra was well aware that she was babbleing. But often when she was nervous she did that and now she was nervous eventhough she had known him before. Her eyes searched him. Then she began to feel quilty for intruding upon him but she just could not help it they had been such good friends.

Surprise crossed Bane's face when she stepped forward and he felt her arms close around him, but after that he handled it well, despite feeling a little awkward. It was unexpected, but not unpleasant. It had simply been so long since he had experienced the comfort of an embrace, and didn't quite know how to respond. Hesitantly, he put an arm behind her, in a half-hearted attempt to return the gesture. When she released him and stepped back, he found himself laughing as she began to speak rapidly.

"Hold, slow down," he said, smiling. There was another surprise. It had been a long time since his mouth last creased upwards. When she mentioned the events that had led him away from his home, however, he turned away, something in his eyes darkening. He shook his head slightly, and looked up at the blazing sun overhead. Sighing deeply, he spoke again to her, his tone troubled.

"That is a tale that I would prefer to not befoul this fair day with. It belongs not in the bright sunlight. Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin this happy reunion with depressing stories!" He turned to her, his expression once again becoming joyful and amused. He motioned down the long street, suggesting with the gesture that they should walk. As he did so, he studied her discreetly, out of the corner of his way, just as thoughts rampaged about in his mind. He couldn't believe that here she was, one of his friends from the past. Why had he never thought to look for them? True, he had been caught up with thoughts of finding his parents, but that did not excuse his forgetting about those that he had grown up with. It made him wonder what had happened to all the others. Had they changed as much as Astra? Last he had seen her, she was not but a child, a small girl. Now, she had grown into a young woman.

Then, of course, he realized that such must be true for him, also. He had been a young teenager when the demons had come. Now, he was a man, his eyes tired from seeing too much, and his features haggard from care. His hand rarely strayed from the blade at his side, and his mind was paranoid, always seeking the next threat. It seemed that he had never had time for enjoying himself as a kid. His childhood had been stolen from him.

Shaking away these depressing thoughts, he once again smiled at Astra, and turned towards her.

"Shall we walk?" He hoped, more than a little, that she would accept. They had much to talk about.

Astra thought about the hug, he stifined under her touch and certianly didnt remember how to hug back! But no matter they could do that later. She had indeed changed, now she was an older girl and did many things in the past, have made many friends some stayed others left. She wanted so much to play in the beach with him like they did when they were kids, but now his face was a shadow that she knew would be hard to break down. So for now she would try her best to be mellow.

She smiled and jumped up and down a little when he said that today was not the day to discuss his departure, but rather his return. Now he seemed, darker, deeper, more intense. It made a part of her stomach do flip flops that she tried pointedly to ignore. Before he had been sooo full of life. But now it seemed zapped out. And she would make it her job to bring it back.

The heat was begining to roast her, so she put a hand behind her back and lifted it through the air concintrating on making a light cool breeze, soon one came. She did not want him to know of her powers...not yet anyway. She would tell him in due time. When he asked her to walk she smiled, curtsied, and took his arm, probably another motion he was not used to. But she did it anyway. She was his friend. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. Lets walk along the beach, remember how we used to play there! So much has happened scince you have left, obviously I have grown up. I've learned some ways of the witches, potions, palm reading, card reading. All that. Uhm..." She let out a nervous laugh. "What do you wish to know?"

Bane glanced at Astra with a troubled frown when she took hold of his arm, but it was not for any reason she could possibly guess. This wasn't nearly as awkward as that hug had been. Considering that his father had been involved in politics, he had been taught manners and actions befitting a gentleman, and politely escorting a lady was one of those things that he could handle with any hesitation. Before they began walking, however, a fuzzy feeling appeared in the back of his mind, and he glanced at the girl beside him with surprise. His talents included the ability to sense the use of magic, and he was quite certain that she had just used a spell. He said nothing however, for she didn't address the matter. It wasn't troubling, it just startled him. He didn't know that she had the ability of magic.

He walked alongside her, for the moment content to just listen to her talk. He payed close attention to her words, yet at the same time he was thinking, remembering events from the past, and also pondering his next move. It was fortunate, very fortunate, that he had encountered the girl that now walked beside him, but it brought him no closer to finding his parents. Where could they be? It shouldn't be so hard to track them down. His father had been important in the world of politics. Surely his name should be mentioned somewhere. And yet, so far, he had found nothing. It was very troublesome to his mind. A question from Astra suddenly snapped him away from his deep thoughts.

"Oh, anything!" he told her, stopping for a brief moment and turning back to her, a bemused smile on his face. "I've been gone so long, anything you have to say would be new to me. I've already heard about the war on the moon, but other than that I know next to nothing. I'm happy just to hear you talk." He paused a moment, that dark look coming back into his eyes for a brief second. After a brief hesitation, he ventured to ask, "I don't suppose...you haven't heard anything about...demons, have you?" He tried to ask this in an offhand manner, acting as though the answer didn't truly matter to him, but it was by far the most important question he had asked yet. He hoped she didn't notice, but she would surely have to be blind to not notice that these words had changed his body language. Just saying that hated word made his eyes flash and his mouth twist into a grimace.

He took her arm with grace. It was true she remembered as kids that his father would tell him to be nice and gentlemanly to her, a couple times even they were force to dance together! Now that she looked back on it it would have been very imbarssing for him at his age dancing with such a young girl. Shortly after he had dissapeared his family moved after weeks of being dismayed that he was gone, she rememberd being sad that his perants were leaving, and she wanted to help find him but could not.

Soon they were walking by the water, the water came up close to their feet as the sand crunched under their footsteps. The breeze still came slowly and cooled down her hot skin. He looked a little more relaxed but still, troubled some how. She needed to get him away from his worries, but she was affraid of scaring him off, he seemed fragile at the moment!

He wanted her to talk to him? She didnt want to talk his ear off, that was a great danger when it came to Astra. "I have had only one suiter and I denied him, I did not like him let alone love him to marry him. But I have no longer virgin lips, many people think this to be quite the scandle." She said giving him a wink. Then she thought about it, she probably freaked him right out. She sighed from her bad behavior. Then he asked her the question of deamons. This brought up something not very good.

"Take a seat" She said motioning to the sand, herself sat right where the water ran up then back down again so it would cool her from the heat. "I have...had dealings with the evil side scince you have gone. But I do not want you to worry, I have it undercontrol." This was a lie. But she hid it well. The man that seaked her wanted her power and would stop at anything ot get it, but for now that was another story.

Astra looked up her mind wondering then she rememberd something, she was late for her dance lesson! And if she did not have it how was she to dance at grand balls or parites?! And her teacher was, (another scandle thought by the town but she didnt care what they thought) also teaching her dances that involved hip movements, like the rumba. Astra stood up grabbed his wrist then walked quickly toward the town. "Uh...kinda late for something, please come, talk more while we walk." She instructed.

Bane sat down as was requested, and leaned back, his black eyes staring up at the sky as he once again (as seemed to be a constant with him) became lost in thought. When he heard Astra's response, however, his eyes snapped down on her, and he leaped up, an incredulous "What!?" coming from his mouth as his hand shot to the sword at his side. But he calmed himself, shaking his head, and tried to calm the alarm that had sprung up within him. The girl would probably not at all understand his reaction. But if she knew where he had been the past eleven years, and the torment he had been subject to, there would be no confusion at all. Hatred of all that lurked within the darkness was something that had been forced into him from all those long years watching the monsters creep around. Even now, his eyes wandered far, seeking an enemy that he was sure would come for him.

He gave the female sitting next to him an apologetic smile, and grunted out, "Sorry. Overreacted."

It didn't matter. Astra seemed to have suddenly realized something, and grabbed his wrist. He had to hurry to keep pace with her as she walked forth, lest he get his arm dragged off. As they walked, he gave her a few quizzical glances, but she didn't seem to be willing to relinquish any information on where they were going. He resigned himself to finding out when they got there, and racked his brain for anything to say. He came up with surprisingly little. He was hesitant to speak of his confinement, but it was incredibly difficult to tell her anything without mentioning it. Finally, he sighed and simply looked around, trying to figure out where they were. He was still hopeless when it came to finding his way around this huge city. It was then that he made the resolution to, next time he had a chance, buy a map.

A sudden sharp pain in his chest caused him to wince and stop for a second, as his hand went to his stomach. All this walking must have strained him. The wound he had taken from that demon a few days ago was still paining him, despite having healed it. The claws on that monster had been sharp, and he still remembered them tearing through his armor and cutting into him. But the pain quickly passed, and he glanced at Astra, hoping she hadn't noticed. He quickly started walking again, studying the surroundings as they went. Finally, a question he could ask came to mind.

"Do you happen to know anything about my parents?" he asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. It was a hopeful question, but he doubted that she could tell him anything. He knew that his father, at least, was still alive. But where Zacharias was living, he was yet to discover.

Astra thought about the way he reacted, had he known more he surly would have left then and there. And she would have again, lost an old friend. So for the time being she kept her mouth shut. They ran through the village and her stomach began to ache with running but she ran faster until she arrived exhasperated infront of the door, she sat and panted before opening the door where her instructor sat and scowled.
"Your late again Astra! And now we must practice longer." He said not noticing bane.
"I'm sorry Richard but that was not my fault I ran into an old friend with whom I had to visit with, I could not pass it up." She said walking up to him and curtsing.
"Oh I see, nice to meet you." He strode up and bowed. "Any friend of Astra is a friend of mine! But now we must get back to our lesson." With a whip of his fingers the music began to play. It was fast and had a good beat.

Astra took his hand, put the other on his shoulder. Her teacher but one on her waist and the other in her hand. Then they did the Rumba and dance that very few people did because it was considered a scandle and far to intamate. But she did the steps will and with presicion. She moved her hips and they preformed lifts and spins. Through the dancing she smiled and tried to answer banes question.

"Well the last" She was inturpupted by a spin and lift. "I saw them was a few" A dip in which she looked at him and winked. "Days after you were taken." More back and forth steps. "They couldnt handle staying, so they moved." The dance ended and it was tiering. She curtsied then walked back over to bane. "I'm sorry I cant tell you anymore. But I do know that they are still in Arda. I'm glad your trying to find them." She smiled. "But now we must get to know each other again! Do you not remember how we used to cause trouble and play. I do so remember. If you dont mind me saying..you have become quite the handsom young man. I'm glad you've come back." She smiled gently then put her head down. and looked at her dancing slippers. She only wanted to be nice, and show him the good parts of being back, to maybe loosen him up a bit? But he was in no mood she realized and should probably be very serious. So she stood up very tall put her chin up and put on as much a serous face as she could manage. "So..."

A dancing lesson? Well, that certainly wasn't what he had expected. Bane didn't really enter the house, feeling out of place. He should have known that he would be interrupting something by occupying her time. Leaning against the wall, holding the door open with his shoulder, he stayed long enough to hear Astra's answer to his question. The information she revealed to him was just as he expected. They had moved...but to where? If it was out of the city, then it was little wonder he hadn't found them. But no, that was impossible. He had heard his father's name mentioned more than a few times. From what he had learned during his many forays into the city, his father was still involved in politics. But of those he asked, none seemed to know his whereabouts. It also made him worry about his mother. His father was alive, but was she? Frowning, Bane shook his head. He glanced up, and seeing that Astra didn't seem to be planning on finishing anytime soon, he sighed and turned around, shrugging absentmindedly to the compliment she gave him.

"I'll be waiting outside," he informed her, quickly exiting through the doorway. He came to a stop a few feet outside and leaned up against a wall, his face darkening and his eyes roving. What was he to do now?

Finding Astra had been both a blessing and a curse. Now, he was being faced with all kinds of thoughts. Were his parents okay? Had they been forced into hiding after the demons kidnapped him and his sister? What about the rest of his friends? Were they still alive? What was he going to do?

Bane took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. To aid himself in this, he closed his eyes and did what he always did when he wanted to relax: he focused on the flow of magic. He could feel it's pulse, reverberating always within the natural state of the world. Here in a city, it was more difficult to sense, but it was still there, waiting for a mage to call on it's power and shape it to do his or her bidding. Bane reached out and did just that, causing a small, bladed, spinning object to suddenly appear in the air above his hand. Opening his eyes, he watched the thing as he caused it to fly through the air around his head. The thing was deadly, magic formed into a weapon. But right now, he was using it so that he could focus. He directed his thoughts, just as he directed his magic, and was able to ignore all the stress.

As she finished up her dance lesson she though about Bane. He was not a very talkative creature. that was somethign she had forgotten about him. It may also have been his experance where it was he was taken, someplace dark and ugly. She also thought about to when she told him she had had contact with deamons, he nearly killed her just because she's been in trouble with them. She had seen the hatred rooted deep within. But what he didnt realize was that is how deamons won. By printing their ugly powers in your mind so it bothered you at night. So the negative emotions consumed you until finally you belonged to them. And Astra could see he was already taken.

Astra came out of the dance place with little beads of sweat making her skin glisten. She saw him leaning up against a wall with his head down. He looked rather dashing. She laughed a little before coming up next to him quietly and standing to one side of him resting her weight on one side. She put on a silly smile and fluttered her eye lashes jokingly. "Stranger, I seem to be lost and I feel faint...." She put a hand to her head dramaticly. "Can you help a lady to find her way?" She asked with more fluttering of the eye lashes. Then after a moment she laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"Oh! you should have seen your face! it was great. That look as soo worth the embarassment of pretending to be a ditz!" She laughed and covered her face with her hands she couldnt help it that look was priceless.

He stood there for quite some time, simply watching his creation zoom about in the air. But when he heard the door opening, Bane quickly ended the constant flow of magic he was providing for the spell to hold it's effect. He turned around to see Astra coming towards him. He tried to give her an apologetic smile, sure that she would be upset for him just leaving her like that. But seeing her act so strangely upon reaching him, he looked at her bemusedly, his expression somewhat quizzical. She must have found it amusing, because laughter spilled from her after a moment. He took a brief pause to contemplate the sound. He hadn't heard laughter in a long time. It was a pure, joyful sound. Once again, he marveled at the simple things in this world that could bring such happiness, and how much men took for granted.

Chuckling, he shook his head at her antics. "Sorry, Miss," he said to her, grinning, "but you probably know your way around this city better than I do." He shrugged his shoulders, looking around somewhat helplessly. "I don't even have the faintest idea where we are right now. Finding the Inn I'm staying at is going to be a chore." He sighed at the thought. He'd been in this place for a week, at the least, and he was still clueless when it came to navigating himself around. He really, really needed to buy a map.

Watching the girl laugh made something twist inside him. Being with her made everything seem normal again...yet, he knew that it wasn't. Nothing could ever be the same. He felt a burning urge to tell her what had happened, to receive sympathy for his pains. But if she knew, he wouldn't be able to hide from it. But when this thought crossed his mind, his resolve hardened. Hide? Of course he wasn't going to hide! His problems would always be there, and it was time to confront them.

"Listen...," he began, turning to Astra. "I'm going to tell you what happened. You deserve that much, considering we just disappeared. I should have told you the second I saw you, but...anyway, let's find somewhere to sit down first." Turning back around, he went down the street some ways, before finally he saw a wooden bench situated nearby. Pushing his cloak back behind him (to avoid sitting on it) he sat down, leaning back and staring up at the sun.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he ventured to ask, before starting his story. As for himself, he wasn't sure that he could retell the story yet again, but he could at least try.

Bane played along and the fact that he really did have no idea where he was made her laugh even more she felt bad but it was just funny! And to her laughter was the thing that could cure sadness, madness, anger, hate, any negative emotion so she tried her best to do it often.

Astra watched as his face shifted, she could tell he was debating but soon arrived at an answer, he asked her to sit down. This was what she had been wanting for him to tell her because she was not something to be afraid of, just beacuse he had not seen her in ages did not mean that she was an enimy only a lost freind that would take some time to make more vibrant in his mind as the time passed. She took his arm and sat down on a bench fussing with her skirts and sitting up rather straight."You may tell me, darkness had at one point reached me when you were gone. But that is a story for another day. What I mean is that I will not be scared, I will not think of you any lesser. However you may have to suffer through another hug at the end."

Astra moved her hand to put on his shoulder gently and looked at his eyes. She said jokingly. She had a nack to say things like that often or use synical or sarcastic humor. But she was sure that by the end she would just want to hug him and give him a pat on the back. To tell him he was brave. To put a hand on his cheek and smile but she also did not want to scare him.

Astra wante to talk to him too, but she could not. She wanted to tell him that at tiems she was hard, tough, and emotionless. But only because she needed to. Only for reasons that no one else would understand, but she could not. So she would let him talk.

Bane grunted, and with another sigh, he began his story. He wouldn't tell her everything, if he did they would be sitting here for hours. But she would know what was essential. He simply wanted her to realize what had happened to him. He would make it as painless and quick as possible.

Demons," he stated simply. "Demons took me and my sister. I think my parents must've had some dealing with them, I'd see them always talking to these tall men with unnatural eyes. I didn't know what, nor do I now. But one night, they took us. They brought us back to the underworld. That's where I've been all this time."

"There were many others there, as well. Children, adults, of all races. They had been captured by demons. They were being used, as...trading material. Drow, vampires, demons from other regions. They would come and haggle for ownership. ...We were slaves."

"Me and my sister were never taken, thank the gods. And we didn't give up. Both of us had some basic skill in magic, and we both trained for a long time, strengthening what power we had. It was difficult. You know that people have different ways of harnessing the arcane, right? My method is that I manipulate the natural energy that flows through the world. I can twist it into creation. Unfortunately, the current of energy doesn't flow very strongly in the underworld. Still, I could use it. Magic was our only hope of escape."

"So, when a day came that the guards seemed to be busy with something else, me and Karie ran for it. We actually killed a few of the demons, though that was mostly due to Karie. But we didn't get far when her legs were wounded. I had to leave her." That last sentence made him wince. That was exactly what he had done...left her there, in that hellhole.

Bane shrugged miserably. "And so, here I am. My sister is trapped in a friendless world, and my parents are nowhere to be found. I wanted to find them, let them know I'm alright, but if I can't track them down soon, I'll have no choice but to abandon the effort. Right now, Karie needs me. I can't just leave her down there."

He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. Anger, frustration, regret. These were the emotions he was experiencing right now. No sadness. He was past that.

"You're only the second person I've told since I've returned. With good reason, too. Twice demons have come for me. One of them nearly killed me." He gestured helplessly. Just sitting here, he was in danger.

And while he sat here, Karie sat in the underworld, surrounded by enemies.

Astra listened intently, this story was aweful, she felt so bad for him. He had gone through so much through those years that he was missed. He was having so many hard trials that she ahd missed, no way to help. She felt bad for him, oh she awnted to help but she had no idea how to find his perants, only that they had moved but not too far south. So she felt even worse because she had no idea how to help him!

"Thank you for telling me about this, I'm glad you did, it helps me to understand things better, I understand your hate for these people. Its hard having to deal with all that and I'm sorry. I'm glad I could have seen you again." Her lips upturned and she smiled.

Astra reached ove and put her arms around his neck, embracing him in a hug she put her head on his shoulder. After a moment or so she let go and smiled at him. "I must go now I am sorry, we will meet again I proimse you that." She smiled again, did a slow curtsie and bent her head. She looked rather noble.

Astra turned her back and went to take care of some buisness that was in her face, and she must take care of.

(( sorry this is the end of the topic I'm adjusting my char and I will have a new topic for us to rp in soon! thanks ))