• Graded • Runaway Reunion

[Darius Baer]

Arc 720, 20th of Cylus

The town square was crowded. As if in defiance of the lack of good sunlight, the citizens of Scalvoris Town filled the marketplace with their goods. The almost perpetual dusk light did not mean that people suddenly had no need to put bread on their tables, and so trade continued unabated. The colourful awnings, usually so bright in the sunnier months, still stood tall, and the smells of freshly cooked meats flooded the nostrils of anyone who passed by. The sound of the fountain could barely be heard over the din of passionate negotiations and merchants hawking their wares.

Darius was there, still reeling from the disappearances of children from the town and asking questions of the merchants there.

Had they seen any of the children? Had they heard rumours that might be helpful? Had they checked their warehouses to make sure there weren't any unexpected squatters?

It had seemed like an endless line of inquiry, and the bearded blond had received few helpful answers.

He decided to take a break. The fear he'd seen in the mothers' eyes as they recounted the vanishings of their children was beginning to weigh him down, and he knew he would be of no use to them if he could not keep his own emotions in check. He pushed his way through part of the crowd and found a seat and was just taking a swig from his waterskin when he heard a breathless and wheezing yell.

"Stop! Thief!"

Darius' gaze lifted just in time to see a pair of feet visible through the crowd. They were moving fast, and before the blond realised what he was doing, he had tightened the bung on his waterskin, stood up, and was watching the escapee.

"Stop him!" came the exhausted voice, which, as it turned out, belonged to a portly, sweaty man who was already worn out, despite having only made half a dozen steps of his own.

As he watched from his elevated vantage point, Darius could see the fugitive - a human male with dark hair - rushing down a set of stairs, colliding with citizens as he made his escape. The blond seafarer was soon in pursuit. Instead of trying to force his way through the crowd and follow the man's path, he hastily sought out a different route, and he began by climbing over a low wall and rushing along a stone path to a parallel set of stairs. The thief had a head start, but he hoped that with enough good fortune, he might be able to chase him down...

[Rei'sari]

20th Cylus, 720

Location: Scalvoris Town Square


Ari'sora wasn't a huge fan of crowds. Too many people pressed too closely together meant that she didn't have the room to spread her wings and fly should she need to. On top of that, crowds meant that there was a greater chance of pickpockets trying to steal from innocent people. But she needed more cloth for diapers, and the market place located in the town square was the best place to buy it. There were several merchants who sold cloth and clothes there, so it was possible to look at them all and select the type of cloth that best suit her needs at the best price.

The dim twilight of Cylus made it harder to see the goods that were being sold. You had to be fairly close to a stall just to be able to see what the merchant had to offer. This meant that there were crowds of people around each of the stalls waiting for their turn to get close enough to see if any one stall had what they needed for sale. Some of the people waited patiently, and others...not so much.

Ari'sora found herself standing near one of the less patient ones. She tried to ignore his rants about people who took their sweet time to make their purchases when other more important people were waiting, but it was hard not to hear his angry words.

"Stop! Thief!"

There was no time to react. Within trills of hearing the angry cry, a powerful force slammed into her from behind. Ari'sora cried out in alarm as she went down under the impact. She struggled to turn herself around, and when she had managed to do so she instinctively bated her wings, pummeling her assailant. The dark haired human shouted in protest, scrambling to retreat from the powerful blows from her wings. A space opened around her as the rest of the crowd drew back, not wanting to get hit.

The man retreated, and Ari'sora watched him flee as she struggled to get to her feet. It was only then that she made the connection between the words, and the man who had run into her. He was almost certainly the thief that the unknown voice had been yelling about. Stealing was wrong. Even the youngest of children knew that...or at least they should.

It might not have been the wisest decision on her part when she had no way of knowing if the thief was armed, or how good a fighter he was, but Ari'sora decided to give chase. If nothing else, maybe being chased would scare the man badly enough that he made a mistake that allowed him to be caught by someone.

Using the space around her to her advantage, Ari'sora took to the sky so she could move without having to maneuver around the crowd. It was tricky, though. If she flew too high, she wouldn't be able to spot the fleeing thief among the rest of the crowd. So she had to stay low enough to follow him without going too low that her wings would hit people, stalls, and the like.

[Balthazar Black]

20 Cylus 720

On one dark trial in Cylus, Balthazar found himself in the town square for reasons very similar to Darius. He was still following leads, only this time he was trying to follow the notes rather than the words that the people provided. People could lie, they could deceive, but the notes never lied. Isabella had not had very much time to teach Balthazar about Attunement so much of his practice was based around what he could feel and what he knew how to do already. He knew how to Attune to people, he knew how to shift through their frequency and examine the notes that made them who they were, but he was still learning to attune to locations. Once he'd done that it would become easier for him to douse- a skill he still didn't know he'd soon learn.

However, unbeknownst to Balthazar, his Attunement spark was not the only one paying attention. As Balthazar wandered the town square his Rupture spark familiarized itself with the etheric signature of the area so that Balthazar would be able to conjure a scrying portal to the area if he chose to. Not that it was actively on his mind, it just came with his efforts to figure out the notes that built up the square. While he wandered, Balthazar began to hear familiar notes, the notes of a frequency he'd attuned to recently. Darius. Balthazar turned his head, looking around to try and find the fellow investigator but instead he found a chase.

Balthazar raised a hand to wave at Darius just as a blur dashed through a crowd of people and a vendor shouted the two words that would bring the trio of do-gooders together "Stop, thief!" Balthazar saw Darius begin to give chase, he didn't see Ari'sora in the crowd because he wasn't looking for her. Balthazar found the mat of dakr hair bobbing as the thief fled and a smile spread over his face. Outrun a Rupturer? Good luck.

Balthazar reached his hand out and called upon his Rupture spark to begin bending the distance between where he was and where he wanted to be to catch the thief when something entirely unexpected happened, a ball of blue flame fired itself from Balthazar's hand. In a panic the mage recoiled and with a wave he dispelled the flames. That was the wrong spark. Was it possible to call on the wrong spark by accident? He'd never done it before but it could have been possible? Balthazar reached out his hand again and when he began turning it to conjure the portal, the same small flame began to spin in the air and Balthazar pulled his hand away. "This is not good." He mumbled to himself before breaking into a jog to try and catch up with the others. He'd fallen a bit behind while trying to work his magic.

Balthazar jogged around the large crowd and while he jogged he tried to call on his Rupture spark again to conjure a different type of portal- the blinking type. He could feel his ether building within him and when Balthazar was sure that his spark was ready he leapt forward, summoning a portal around him to take him into the air. The portal burned to life- literally. As Balthazar's feet left the ground, a burst of blue flames engulfed his body. Another burst of blue flames deposited Balthazar atop the rooftop he'd been trying to teleport to but the shock stopped the mage in his tracks. He turned to look back at the smoke slowly fading from the air. "That's new."

[Darius Baer]

Darius rushed down the set of stairs as quickly as he could, his gaze rapidly shifting between the thief he was attempting to pursue and the steps themselves so that he didn't cause himself to tumble over as he ran. He still had his own obstacles to avoid, mostly other Scalvoris locals and the occasional crate or barrel that had crept over from the main marketplace.

He could feel his legs complain about their sudden activity. He had just prepared himself for a rest when the alleged theft had taken place, and he was forcing them to move more quickly than they would have liked.

He caught half a glimpse of the thief colliding with someone and disappearing from sight. The throng between the two sets of stairs hid the man from view until he regained his footing and continued his escape.

Darius' gaze didn't linger long enough to see Ari'sora take to the skies; he had eyes only for the thief...

...which was probably the reason that he tripped. One of his leather boots clipped a sack of grain and he was sent sprawling onto his hands and knees. He grunted a curse under his breath, knowing that bruised shins would be the least of his worries. Every moment he was on the ground was a moment the thief was making good his escape.

Adrenaline forced him to move, and he had barely landed before he was up again, running down the next set of stairs to the cobbled street below, just as the dark haired man paused and looked for an escape route. The wings of an Avriel looked to also be approaching him and had blocked off a path, which forced the man to turn into a side street. Darius suddenly realised that the three of them were all going to converge on the same street if he could cut off the man's path.

"Move!" the blond yelled as he ran between two bystanders.

Having briefly lost sight of Ari'sora, and unaware that Balthazar stood above them all on a rooftop somewhere, Darius left the marketplace behind and ducked into an alleyway just in time to see the thief turning a corner and - for a moment, at least - disappearing from sight.

[Rei'sari]

20th Cylus, 720

Location: ---


Flying at a low altitude was much harder than flying at a higher one. She had to be very aware of her surroundings so that she didn't crash head first into the buildings around her...all while trying to keep an eye on the man that she was chasing. Every beat of her wings created a down draft of wind that caused people to look up in annoyance or alarm as she flew by. Ari'sora called out apologies as she flew, but she didn't have the time to stop and see if they were okay.

When the man ran down a side street, she almost missed him. Ari'sora shot forward along her flight path several yards, before having to backwing frantically and change directions. Turning sharply at great speeds wasn't easy. The mistake cost her valuable time. and by the time she turned down the side street she had seen the thief going down, he was gone.

Ari'sora landed awkwardly as she tried to avoid landing on anyone. She stood hastily, and began looking around for signs of where the thief might be hiding. Or failing that, signs of where he might have gone. She noticed a man nearby who she thought might have been chasing the thief earlier.

"Did you see which way the thief went?" she asked hopefully as she continued to search the small side street.

Her eyes were narrowed as she looked for clues, and she used the chance to catch her breath after her exertion. Already, she felt winded. Her wings were starting to ache from the added strain of flying at an altitude lower than what she was used to.

[Balthazar Black]

20 Cylus 720

When Balthazar finally remembered that he was part of a chase, he ran towards the edge of the roof and leapt off it, calling on his defiance spark to bolster the wind around him. His ether burned and a cruel wind whipped in his face, a curse of a mutation taking effect and signaling to Balthazar that the wind had embraced him. He took the skies and began looking towards the ground for the man he was pursuing. He saw familiar and unfamiliar faces chasing after the man but didn't pay them very much attention as he soared through the skies. Balthazar had used this power many times, but he was still not very good at maneuvering around using his magic so he kept himself above the buildings as he flew, trying to spot the suspect.

People on the ground seemed more surprised by the man flying above them without wings than they seemed concerned with the thief running around but Balthazar didn't quite mind. He was focused on the work.Balthazar saw Ari'sora soaring lower than himself, thus burdened with navigating around the buildings that propped up just a little bit too high. From his vantage point, Balthazar saw the thief round the corner and when he tried to land in front of the thief to stop him, the wind whipping in his face threw off Balthazar's balanced and caused the mage to stumble and crash into the floor. The thief moved on and Balthazar groaned in pain. He'd bee to urgent and crashed too hard. The pain rippling through his legs and his back served a prominent reminder to practice more caution when landing. Balthazar heard Ari'sora speaking to Darius "This way!" Balthazar shouted before running after the thief, trying not to lose him.

Balthazar got a funny idea and held out his right hand, waving it in a circle as he tried to conjure a portal in front of the thief with an egress beside it that- if the thief charged through, would change his direction and cause him to run towards Balthazar. A wisp of blue flame appeared in the air and expanded into a portal but the question remained of whether or not the thief would run through it.

[Darius Baer]

Darius could feel the burn in his leg muscles as his boots pounded over the surface of the cobbled streets. He turned into the alleyway and saw the back of the thief disappearing around a corner, which spurred him on to push himself in an attempt to catch up before the figure disappeared into the maze of alleys and small lanes that could be found in that part of Scalvoris Town.

Just before he reached the corner, however, the bearded blond heard a crashing sound, and it caused him to slow his pace, unsure of what he might see, though that didn't prevent his feet from slipping as he changed direction. When he did step around the edge of the building, he saw a figure sprawled out on the ground, and an avriel stood nearby. Darius wondered if the man on the ground was the thief, until the winged woman - who appeared as out of breath as everyone else in that narrow intersection - asked if he had seen which way their quarry had gone.

The bearded blond shook his head, but the individual who had taken a tumble had a quick and ready answer. It was only then that a sense of recognition connected with Darius' mind.

"...Balthazar?"

The identity of his fellow human had been somewhat obscured by the chaos of the moment, with a small crate of apples having split beneath his falling body and its contents still rolling loose in the alleyway. Darius' furrowed brow and surprised tone lasted only for a moment, however, because before he knew it, Balthazar was on his feet and leading the chase. The seafarer only managed a fleeting glance in Ari'sora's direction before he followed.

The thief never saw it coming. He was so far ahead, he was sure he couldn't be caught, but then blue flame appeared in front of him and before he knew what was happening, he had run straight through the portal...and straight into Balthazar!

Despite any attempts on the pursuer's part to strike at the thief, the two collided and crashed to the ground, knocking over discarded boxes and an empty barrel in the process. This sent Darius into an unintended and ungainly leap as he overran the pair, before his trailing leg clipped the barrel and he too was sent tumbling down to the ground with a loud grunt. All of a sudden, all three men were on the ground, and unseen by Darius, the thief had dropped an item from his hand.

[Rei'sari]

20 Cylus 720

Location: ---


A man shouted "This way!", and strangely, the voice came from above her. Startled, she looked up; she was used to being the one who flew above others, or at least she had gotten used to it ever since she had discovered the freedom of flight. It was unnerving to hear someone calling down from above her. But when she looked up, there was no one there. Had she imagined it?

The man who she'd asked if he had seen which way the thief had gone didn't speak, but his head shake was all the answer she needed. She continued to look around for clues as to where the thief might have gone. When the man she had spoken to ran off, Ari'sora followed him instinctively. Maybe it was the voice she wasn't sure she had imagined or not. Had the other man heard it too? And if so, was he following it? It was as good a lead as any. So Ari'sora avoided the apples rolling around on the ground as best she could as she ran after the man.

She saw the man she believed was the thief and realized that she would never catch him on foot; he was too far ahead, and the burning pain in her side warned her that she would have to stop and rest soon. But a blue flame appeared before the thief, and when he ran into it, rather than burst into blue flames himself, he vanished. Ari'sora stared at the spot where he disappeared in wide eyed shock as she tried to figure out what had just happened. But before she could even think of the right questions to ask, the thief reappeared just in time to crash into another man. Both men fell to the ground. The man she had spoken to tried to jump over them, but he tripped over one of the barrels that had fallen when the other two men had, and he went down, too. Fortunately, Ari'sora was far enough behind that she was able to avoid getting caught up in it herself.

As Ari'sora watched the three men uncertainly, she noticed the thief had dropped something. At least...she thought it was the thief who had dropped it. But it could also have been the man who the thief had crashed into. Curious, Ari'sora reached down to pick it up.

"Is this what the thief stole?" she asked uncertainly as she showed the item to the others.

[Balthazar Black]

20 Cylus 720

Balthazar heard his name as he was stumbling back on his feet to continue the chase but there was no time to stop because the thief was escaping. Then Balthazar enacted his plan and the thief came running back towards him. That was where Balthazar's mathematical ability failed him. He'd seen how far the thief was exactly and determined what would be an effective portion of space to fold to bring the thief back to him, but he had not considered how long he or the thief would need to slow down once they realized they were running at each other. Consequently when the thief came through the portal, Balthazar raised a fist to wallop the man and merely ended up colliding with him.

They crashed and fell in a bundle of tangled limbs and another crashing noise behind them indicated that Darius had taken a similar fall. In true Yari fashion, when Balthazar and the thief began to rise at the same time, Balthazar quickly turned and socked the thief across the face. Then Balthazar stood and when the thief went to rise again, Balthazar kicked his arms out from under him to knock him down again. Needless to say someone was a little angry about the crash but at least Balthazar wasn't burning him. Ari'sora had picked up a small but intricately decorated dagger- one that was so impeccably made it must have been for show more than real use. "What were you gonna do with the knife, huh?" Balthazar pressed his heel against the downed thief's side and pushed him over onto his back so the three of them could see who they were dealing with.

Never piss off a Yari.

[Darius Baer]

Darius was winded. He struggled to catch his breath, and he wanted to take a few precious trills to do precisely that, but the fight that had started nearby ensured such a luxury would have to wait.

He turned just in time to see the thief take Balthazar's punch, and the figure fell to the ground right beside Darius. The man looked startled, which might have been a result of his unexpected telportation and collision, but he also caught a glimpse of the bearded man next to him, and a shocked expression flashed across his face before he struggled to get up once more.

But Balthazar had his number, and the thief was pinned by the time Darius found his feet. The bearded pursuer looked across to Ari'sora as he brushed himself down, and then to the bejewelled dagger in her hand.

The thief was already fumbling with his words, stammering as he tried to form a defense. He was barely intelligible, but as he looked up with his beady eyes at the three figures standing over him, he locked his gaze onto the blond seafarer and suddenly found his voice.

"Darius?"

The name's owner furrowed his brow as he studied the scrawny figure. He was silent for a few trills before he replied.

"...Nael?"

Darius' confused expression remained as he tried to piece together the unexpected reunion. Nael, meanwhile, looked up at him, possibly expecting some kind of salvation.

"Did you steal the dagger?" Darius asked through gritted teeth.

Nael nodded quietly, flinching under Balthazar's attention.

"I need nels to live," he responded to the mage in a tone that was probably sharper than it should have been, "just like everyone else."

The defiance in his voice died away, and he looked between the three figures.

"So," he asked, swallowing nervously, "what happens now?"