Heirot

Soran looked down at his bootless feet blankly. "I guess," he said as he opened the door for her to go out first.

Mizuki smiled at him helplessly and walked out the door. When Soran followed after her she locked her door to keep Blade safe. She smiled again at Soran and tucked the key away in the pocket of her breeches. She looked towards the stairs and saw Red looking at them smugly. She blushed instantly.

"Took you two long enough." Red said chuckling to himself at Mizuki's red face.

Soran made his expression as flat as possible as Mizuki's friend confronted them on the stairway. Had they taken that long? The rogue made as if to just continue down the stairs, stopping just in front of Red, who was in his way. "Can I help you with something?" he asked icily.

Red just smirked and moved to let him pass. "Just wanted to talk to Mizu over there." Red said calmly, using Mizuki's old nickname. Mizuki sighed and put her palm to her forehead.

"It's ok Soran." she told him.

Soran just gave Red a chilled look and continued down the stairs without a word. When he returned to the bar, he scanned the room for Rai. Inside his head, his thoughts kept racing to understand what had just happened upstairs. One moment he felt a sense of uncertain, desperate excitement, and the next he felt horrified that he'd just made a critical mistake, and back and forth again, all mixing with the lingering memory of her lips on his. If affection was meant to be a good feeling, why was it always accompanied by this panicked doubtfulness for him? He shook it off and tried not to think about it at all, looking behind the table he'd been sitting at before to see if Rai was still there.

Red shuddered mockingly when Soran left and apporached Mizuki. "I believe that look is worse than winter." he joked and Mizuki tried hard to resist a smile. "So," Red folded his arms, looking at her in a knowing way but asked her anyway. "What happened in there?"

Mizuki stayed quiet for a minute, trying to collect her words. "Well, lets just say that I didn't need your tactics after all." she smirked. Red laughed.

"Darn, I would've loved to hear about you dancing for him. But good for you, you kept your chastic ways in tact!'" He joked then fell silent. He almost forgot that she had been raped. "Sorry..."

"It doesn't matter." Mizuki said shaking her head. "That's the past and we'll leave it there." Red smiled and patted her head.

"Good thinking, sis."

Jhaptal went around as he said he would, buying enough provisions to last him and Soran a week. He knew they wouldn't use it all, but it was better safe than sorry. After making his purchases he headed back to the inn and waited outside, noting that he was a bit early, but decided to be patient.

Rai fought with the shoe strings but still couldn't get them untied. She sat there for a very long time, people staring at her, but she still had no luck. A man came and sat in the chair, not noticing she was down there apparently.

She glanced up and saw a knife. She looked at Soran's shoe strings and then back at the knife.

Soran discovered Rai more or less where he'd left her and kneeled down next to her, inspecting his shoes in vague amusement. "You got them good," he praised teasingly, messing up Rai's hair.

Rai tried to hide the fact she had cut Soran's shoe laces to get them untied. Her grin was weak and accusing so it didn't help matters much.

Soran noticed something strange about the shoelaces and picked up one of his boots. It moved; the shoelaces did not. He figured out what happened quickly and looked at her. "Do you have any idea how much these cost to replace?" he asked her.j

He waited a moment, then continued. "Nothing. Don't worry about it," He teased in his casual voice, patting her on the back.

As they stood there, Mizuki ears picked up a thud from inside the room Blade was locked in. It was too soft of a thud for Red to hear it, but her alarmed eyes tipped off Red.

"What's wrong?" he asked her while she scrammbled for her key.

"I think Blade fell." Mizuki said hurriedly and unlocked the door. Blade had indeed fallen but apparently didn't wake up from it. This, worried Mizuki and she rushed over to her son. Blade was laying on his stomach, not moving. When she turned him over in her arms she found him not breathing either. "Blade? BLADE!?" She screamed and lightly shook her son, tears of fear fell down her face. 'No, he's not dead!' she kept thinking.

Red looked on in shock as Mizuki started to wail over her son who was clearly awake and looking at her. Why didn't she see it? Red started to panick as his voice, telling her Blade was fine, didn't seem to reach her. Not knowing what to do, Red ran to her and hugged her tightly.

"Mizuki he's alive! He's fine! Don't worry. He's fine." Red soothed her and rocked her back and forth, repeating his words over and over. It seemed to work. Mizuki blinked her tear filled eyes, and finally seemed to realize that her son wasn't dead. Blade cooed, not understand why his mother was crying. Mizuki sobbed and held her son tightly while Red hugged her. He was so confused but wouldn't say anything until she was fine.

Rai had frowned and looked down, shaking her head. But, when Soran said it was alright she lifted her head, smiling innocently. "I just couldn't get the knot undone."

"Maybe you'll be a sailor," Soran speculated idly. "Of course, you'd have to learn to swim. And to put up with sailors." He peered out the window at the sun that was quickly rising. "I'm going to look into finding a place for us to stay," he told Rai, pulling his boots on and using what was left of the laces to secure them at the tops. "Feel like coming, or would you rather stay here?"

Rai's eyes brightened. "I want to come!" she told him with a smile, her curly hair bouncing with her head.