Heirot

Mizuki looked over to Siren who landed near her. "I can't find Rai or Soran... or anyone else for that matter." she said then held out her palm, showing Siren the black blob.

"Do you happen to know what this is?"

Mayn swallowed a cry of protest as Jhaptal implied she was childish, choosing instead to grin craftily. "Fine," she conceded, too excited about the task she would be participating in to care. This was her chance to prove herself to Reya, and to this boring old ninja as well. "I'll be making preparations. Call me when we can begin," she said gaily, disappearing from his sight to go investigate the area.

Siren looked at the blob as it swayed on Mizuki's hands, as if analyzing it.

"Sure I do! It's an... uhm... black.. blob of goo..."

Siren squinted her eyes and furrowed her eye brows, reaching her finger out to poke it.

"Actually I have no idea, sorry..."

Rai got extremely bored with the icky dead fish, since it did nothing but lie there... She decided to turn back and go back to the house, though everyone seemed to busy to pay attention to her. It made her feel a bit lonely.

She shrugged her shoulders and slapped the trees with a stick as she went by, walking back slowly, pausing often at the sight of something floating in the water.

Mizuki sighed. "I was afraid of that. I just found it on my pillow. It squeaks though." She poked it with a finger and it made a sound of protest. "See?"

She heard Rai coming up and turned to her. "Rai? Do you know where Soran is?"

Rai looked at them and shrugged. "Nope," she said innocently holding out her hands. "When I looked up everyone was gone and I was all alone." Her voice made this cute fake said tone and her eyes twinkled with humor.

Mizuki smiled softly. "Aw, I'm sorry sweetheart." Blade shifted in his sling. She looked down at him for a moment and thought. "Um, Siren? Can I ask you a favor?" She paused for a second. "He's sleeping, and I don't want to take him around searching for Soran about this...thing. So...uh..could you just, take him and set him down on the couch or something?"

Jhaptal nodded to the girl, though she had already left. He made the trek back towards the house, carefully making sure he was back in character. That was fortuneate, because he saw Rai as soon as he got out. Waving to her he grinned and asked, "So what're you doing out here Rai?"

Rai looked at him and smiled. She put her hands behind her back innocently. "Being booooorreeed...." she said, a slight giggle escaping her.

"There is nothing to do!" she asked and then a wicked grin came ot her face. "Want to play with me?"

OOC: PREPARE YOOURRRSSEEELLLFF for: the SUPERDRUNKENHOOKERPOSTOFDEATH!

Soran tilted back his head and finished his shotglass, letting the gold liquid burn down his throat. He set the glass down and gazed into it absently. He felt on edge, but couldn't place why, or so he insisted to himself. In reality, he did have a vague sense of what was on his mind, but the concept was nebulous and complex, and he couldn't discern what about it was so distracting for him tonight. Of course, he was thinking about Mizuki, justifying to himself impatiently that there was nothing to think about and then proceeding to think about why that solution wasn't satisfying.

"Hello there," came a sultry voice from behind him. Soran did not turn to investigate the young woman who glided onto the stool beside him, slender legs crossing inside a knee-length skirt of blue satin that took a beautiful shine in the dim light of the tavern. She leaned one arm on the bar, resting her fine-featured face against her palm, and watched him with cheerful curiosity. Her face was painted with lipstick the color of chrysanthemums and soft lavender eyeshadow, a blue star painted to her left cheek. The makeup was a mark of her trade, Soran knew, but though this woman was undoubtedly some form of prostitute, the paints complemented her delicate face surprisingly well.

Seeing that the rogue meant to pay no attention to her, she leaned slightly forward and down over the bar so that she was looking up into his face and he had little choice but to look into hers. When his impatient gaze coldly met hers, she smiled cunningly as if she'd just received some type of complement.

"What is it?" Soran said icily, when he saw that the girl would not go away.

She blushed beautifully at this, brushing her straight brown hair back over her shoulder in an excellent pretense of modesty. "Don't look so stern, my lord Nightblade," she said in a softly musical voice, retreating a few inches to give the rogue some space. "I saw you'd been sitting here for some time, and thought you might be lonely."

"I'm not," he returned flatly as the bartender provided him with a second shot.

"You're not very convincing, my lord. You seem to be dwelling on something, to me. If I had a year's life for each time I've seen you sitting here by yourself, drinking alone, I'd have no fear of death," she attempted, gently but eagerly.

"I'm not interested," Soran asserted, locking the woman into a cold glance.

At this, the woman's confident smile wavered and then fell, though she didn't make any move to leave. "How cold you are, my lord. You speak as though you've never seen me before, and yet I've approached you many times. Am I so horrible to you?" her soft voice faltered off-balance for a moment, and Soran realized with a faint sense of dread that she was on the verge of tears. He hadn't noticed it, of course, but she was not merely soliciting him - she had been watching him seriously for some time.

"What is your name?" he asked curtly.

"A..Ambrosia," she replied, shyly.

Soran breathed deeply and drank half his glass, looking away from the strange beauty who was staring at him. "Ambrosia," he reminded at length when she continued to watch him, "I'm not interested."

"Am I ugly?" she demanded unhappily.

"No."

"Is something wrong with my voice? My temper?"

"No."

"What is it, then?"

The rogue made no response, sipping his drink.

"Can I sit here, at least?" she asked at length, somewhat bitterly.

"It seems you already are," the rogue replied.

Letting out an exasperated growl, she called for the bartender to bring her a tall glass of wine and took it down with remarkable speed, then promptly ordered another and began repeating the process.

"So, why are you sitting here, really?" she asked after a few minutes, earning a skeptical glance from Soran.

"To think."

Ambrosia blinked, surprised by his cooperative reply, then took on more confidence. "Then you're worried about something? I don't mind saying, I give the best massages in the district. I'm sure I could help you un-" Soran's stern glance made her cut off her words. "You don't like to talk about feelings much, do you?" she said quietly when she'd recovered her composure.

"Not with you," Soran replied stiffly, annoyed by the girl's prying.

"Not with anyone, probably," she said pointedly, wanting to strike back at least enough to help her pride. "Acting like this all the time, it's no wonder you have no one around you. You're attractive and strong, but with an attitude like that, no one but an emotional masochist could bear your company," she said sharply.

"So you say," Soran returned in irritation, though his tone was different.

Ambrosia looked at him with renewed interest, once again rejudging his position. She had wounded him with those words; she could sense it. She just didn't know why. But there was one good explanation, which she intended to try. "You've found a woman masochistic enough to bear your company?" she asked, her voice still harsh. She felt sorry now for bothering him, but if she'd come this far, she wanted to know for sure, and he seemed to respond well when angered.

Wrong again. The rogue finished his glass, then pulled several coins from his pocket and dropped them on the counter, rising to leave.

"Wait! There is someone, right?" the girl pleaded, standing up and going after him. Soran brushed past her and walked toward the door, face set into an indifferent frown. Growing upset, Ambrosia finally growled, following him out of the tavern. "There is, I can tell, even if you won't say it! It's cruel of you not to say it! Fine! I feel sorry for her anyway. The poor bitch probably thinks you love her, when really you have no soul at a--"

Her tirade ended with a squeak as he whirled on her, standing a full foot taller and looking much more dangerous in the setting light, his green eyes bright with indignance. "She thinks nothing of the sort," he snapped at her.

Ambrosia took a shallow breath as the green ice drilled into her and seemed to press down on her chest. She hadn't expected him to really have a lover. She had thought somehow, depite all this she would have a chance. But he said she didn't think he loved her. So that made the other girl the same as her...she just had to be brave.

Preparing herself, she suddenly leaned upward and pressed her lips against Soran's, her arms encircling his shoulders. Soran's eyes flew wide and he shoved her away, glaring at her fiercely.

"What the hell are you doing?" he challenged frigidly.

But Ambrosia saw the panic that lined his eyes at that moment, and she understood it for what it was, with an ache. "You do care for her," she said, her voice terribly soft, ignoring the tears welling up behind her eyes. "You liar, you're in love with her."

"You are out of line," Soran asserted, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I feel sorry for her. You're nothing but a jerk! You won't even say your feelings to her!" She was emotional and half-guessing, but her guesses were dead-on.

"Why would I do such a thing?" demanded Soran, flustered, not realizing how much he was admitting to through his question."

"So she KNOWS, damnit!" cried Ambrosia, her voice breaking off. She looked away from him tensely, reaching up and trying to disguise a swipe at her bleary eyes as an attempt to brush the hair from her face.

"How long have you really been watching me?" asked Soran, his voice sober this time.

"For five years. I thought for sure you understood, that you noticed me, but I guess people aren't that perceptive, after all," she said softly. "I was too afraid to tell you, to ask you..." she gave a wry laugh, "and now it's too late. You've found someone. And I'm just sitting here annoying you like an obnoxious slut, because I can't stand it... because I've loved you, for so long..." her voice shook again, and she struggled to control it.

Soran watched her in silence, neither anger nor kindness in his expression. This was another person in front of him, with pride and feelings that he could comprehend, and for whose pain he knew he shared some measure of responsibility, as inadvertant as it had been. He could think of nothing to say to her. He began walking past her; stopped when they were shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. She shook as she breathed in a quiet sob and held her breath, embarrassed at her lack of composure, wishing he would leave.

"Thank you, Ambrosia," he said as gently as he knew how, though both the words and the name felt awkward on his tongue. Her eyes lit again at this, and she glanced over at him in surprise for his kind words, confused at what his thanks referred to. He paused another moment before walking on, down the road and soon out of sight. She looked after him curiously, yet without nearly as much sadness as she'd expected to feel. Perhaps, because she had a feeling whoever had beaten her to this man was remarkable. Perhaps because she knew that even had he been alone, he would not have chosen her. She wiped off her face and returned to the bar to make as much of the remainder of the night as she could, feeling oddly more alive than she had in ages.

Jhaptal thought about it for a bit, then shrugged. "Why not?" he replied. "What do you wanna play Rai?"

Rai giggled evilly. "Well, hmm..." she said looking around. "Your the prince and I'm the princess and an evil witch lady named Boomba has kidnapped me! Now come save me!" Rai said and ran off towards a low limbed tree. She climbed up it with a child's energy and sat on the side of the limb. "Oh help me! Help me!"

The blob creature in Mizuki's hand suddenly jumped off. Mizuki squeaked in surprise and watched it scurry away on the ground. For a split second, she wanted to let it go, but then she remembered all the times they had been attacked and if this was some kind of spy, she was not about to let it go. But in order to catch it, she had to get Blad off of her. Without waiting for the Dark Angel's reply, Mizuki promptly picked up Blade and shoved him into Siren's arms.

"Sorry! Gotta catch that thing! I'm taking no more chances!" she said hurriedly and ran off after the dark blob. "Getbackhereyou!" For something so odd and without legs, that she knew of, the thing ran (for lack of any other way to say it) pretty darn fast.

She chased it down the road, far from the house and, unknowingly to her, towards Soran. The blob squeaked its protest at her chasing it.

ooc:: hhahahahaahahaahaha

Ic:

Soran walked down the street looking unfazed, but he was truthfully somewhat shaken by what had just happened. He tried to remember why he'd thanked the girl at the bar; it had all made sense when he'd said it, like the world coming together, but now his defenses were returning, uncertainty building. Perhaps he had just needed to find something uncruel to say before walking away.

No, there was something more. In the way she had told him about what she hadn't been able to tell him, and how it was too late. In the fact that she'd been so certain he noticed her interest, and been dead wrong. Because he harbored similar assumptions himself - was using them to guard himself - and he had just seen them fail. Did Mizuki understand? Did he want her to understand? His questions pelted him like hail as he kept walking.

OOC: bwuahaha >:3 evilness time...

"Goddess! This thing is fast!" Mizuki panted, her pace had slowed, but the idea of it being some kind of spy kept her going. She had to protect her family... er--friends plus one child and her son.

She picked up her pace again and found it going arund the bend. But as she turned, as saw Soran at the last minute out of the corner of her eye. She tried to stop but she was a second too late and collided into him. The blob stopped and turned to watched, squeaking its amusment.

"Bugger-- S-Soran!" She stammered as she rubbed her arm. She looked at him and blushed. "S-sorry..I was..er.. chasing...s-something..."

OOC: ...uh...yea..kinda..