Once there was boy who had vibrant glow, but as it goes, someone took it from him. One day through the rain I heard him meekly moan, he said "Will you wrap your arms around me as I'm falling?"- AFI

Red Dragon Inn

Ribbons of road and ruin of forest gave birth to cobble streets. Moonlight held the seer close, stitched to even her small shadow. She jumped from stone to stone, always making light of travel, slipper-shoes complying as best they could. Finally, the Inn appeared, and she flocked to it, a moth to a flame. Familiar presences called, and the girl brushed a bit of stardust from her shoulders before she made her way inside.

Aqua eyes spun round the room before Sid and Tasha and Talomar were caught up in them, and she waved something wild, then moved from the door, shedding her overcoat like one might shed a second-skin. It was, more or less. Patchwork finery was her true exoskeleton.

Sid tossed her a smile and waved her way, then chatted on with a young man whom the seer did not know. She was obviously tending bar that night, though the wind offered other explanations.

She is waiting.

"Aye, dux, ale comin'."

The youth at the bar had his elbows propped on the counter, his eyes, sky blue, fixated on Sid. "Names Evan and you would be..." His smile was boyish, inviting as he waited for the Ancient to offer her name.

"Well met, Evan. Ye can be callin' me Sid," she said, settling an ale before him.

"Thank you again, lovely Sid. How much I owe?" As he spoke, he tossed a casual glance towards the seer, companion to a flash of a smile before his attention returned to Sid.

"First one be on the house, dux. Sort o' a tradition with me an' those from me home."

"Hm, that is a welcoming gesture. Makes me feel right at home."

Viki moved further in, her brows lifting once eyes wound their way to Kina, a vague snippet of memory rising to the surface. But the seer said nothing, well, nothing to her in the least. She whispered low to the spaces between, then meandered about table, chair, and patron alike, bar-bound, and at last spilled into an empty barstool.

We agree. She is not in league with the Black Wizard.

With bare legs dangling slow beneath the countertop, elbows settled above. Her free hands caught her chin with ease and a look of boredom surfaced. She hummed something sweet, something to match the wafting bits of universe emanating from the Ancient, but ceased, catching a certain pair of...azure...eyes.

Sid and the young man continued with their palaver.

"Aye' An' where be ye home, Evan' If'n I mayhaps be askin', tha' be."

"Let me ask you, Sid. You like living here in Rhy'Din" What are your favorite haunts?"

"Ye be answerin' me, dux, an' mayhaps I be returnin' the favor." The Ancient turned her attentions to the seer nearby and Tass, who was a few feet further down the bar. "Whilst I be here, m'dux, can I be gettin' ye both somethin'?"

But the seer was distracted. "Haunts," echoed the bartop ball of color, and she stared at the young stranger with growing curiosity, and some impish intent. Then, Sid's question hounded her ears.

"Nau, bel'la dos Manon.." Singsong flow of words for the Ancient, though her eyes rarely left the bits of the newcomer who sat so near.

"You know my answer, hun," replied Tass.

The youth with the sky blue eyes continued. "Oh, no problem, lovely Sid. I have no secrets really. I live a rather dull life. I hail from a small town west of Laredo, named Mercy. Ever hear of it' Never been famous, no tourist, but the best damn bass anywhere. You like fish, Sid?"

The Ancient made no move to answer him. "Viki, this be Evan. Seems he be new to town." She nodded between the two of them. "An' this be Tass." She threw Tass a wink. "Tass, Evan."

The stranger turned once more, his eyes soft and approachable, his smile charming. "Evening. It is truly a pleasure to meet you Viki."

Tasslehofl only nodded to the image in the mirror, but his head never swiveled to meet the Evan in greeting.

"Laaa-ray-doh?" A tasting of that far-off place in language alone. Viki was a bit wary of newcomers, but would warm up eventually, and if not figuratively, well, certainly literally. Her skin sizzled and sparkled beneath the throw of lantern light. "Hullo, Evan."

His eyes slid over her multicolored garb. "Interesting fashion statement."

Meanwhile, Sid snatched a bottle from the shelf behind her and spoke over her shoulder to the newcomer. "Laredo' Be tha' the same one in the....Now, dun tell me....Tejas" Earth Prime?"

But it seemed Evan only had eyes and ears for the seer. "Is that a trick, or a talent??

You flicker And you're beautiful You glow inside my head You hold me hypnotized I'm mesmerized... Your flames The flames that kiss me dead -The Cure

She lifted the tea to the air, giving thanks to the streaming steam before sipping slowly, pinky up, though not really knowing why.

"You lived in Rhy'Din all your life, Viki?"

"The Lover cooks, well, hunts.." She didn't elaborate there. She wore her smile well, though it was marred at times by the brim of that teacup. She returned it to its saucer and stared back at the youth, balancing his questions on the tip of her tongue. "Naut all...Some. Are you from Urth?"

"Yes." Evan nodded, placing a hand over where his heart rested. "A lover" You are a taken lady. My hopes and dreams have been dashed." His voice was light and playful.

Viki gave a playful poke to the spoon at the saucer's side - makeshit seasaw, or cannon' She lifted her head, giggling, obviously knocked off course by his charm. "You do naut wear your want at all. That I do naut See."

Evan's chuckle rose up again, warm and husky like the first. "Do I not' I have always thought I wear my lust too openly. Perhaps you haven't looked close enough?" He leaned in towards Viki from the opposite side of the bar, placing his face inches from hers, blue eyes to off blues. "Can you see me now?" He whispered, and so very softly.

Her mouth lay open, a cherub's feature, all pouted and full and pink. She flushed, but not under the pressure of her own heightened temperature. Words were there, possibly mingled with girlish laughter, singsong riddle-ramble, but they were never allowed sound. Instead, she hung there, in the space between speech and sight, her eyes full and wide...and daggers.

And now you will have him! Send up his secrets.

Evan, for the most part, looked unruffled. His boyish, disarming grin flashed once before he hung his head and stepped back a pace. "Can't blame me for trying. You are a beauty, lady Viki."

Then, the conversation blossomed into something entirely different, and dark. "Does Death speak to you, lady Viki?" He leaned in towards her as if they were sharing secrets.

He is too quick to catch. And he knows us.

"Spirits, and naut-spirits, and voices on the wind," she whispered. She wore levity again, dropping that secret guard, though her skin grew hotter with his closeness to her.

Evan nodded in return, his sky blues darkening with intensity. "They whisper to me too. I hear them through trees, in creeks and lakes. Sometimes what they say I don't want to hear."

He is not lying.

"That is when you must stomp them underfoot over and over and over.." She huffed, sending curls his way, result of their proximity. Frustration took hold of her features. Being a seer wasn't fun all of the time.

"I don't fear Death, do you? What I fear is what it steals from me."

"Nau.." Nonchalance wound in that reply. She gave a glimpse at Sid, then looked back to Evan, attempting to find his eyes again. "I know the arms that would rock me," she whispered.

He met her eyes briefly but quickly dropped his gaze to the bar. A half shrug, he spoke softly, "No arms are there to rock me, for Death has stolen them away."

The heavy hearted girl on a barstool, she leaned in again, with small hands hovering, attempting to touch his face, though hesitant. Touch was something she didn't take lightly. "Death is the best of thieves, I fear."

"Yes." With a heavy sigh, he pushed away from the bar, effectively avoiding contact with her hands. His sad smile haunted his handsome features as he peered up at the girl once more. "It has been a pleasure meeting you, lady Viki, but I am not fit for company right now. Perhaps we'll meet again?"

The seer offered him a small nod, her smile laced with equal sadness, for if anything, the girl was as much empathic as she was instilled with second-sight. "Xas...Listen to the air."

You will meet. But you may not like the actual event.

Moving backwards, he saluted Viki. "I have no choice. I must listen." Turning, he moved out from behind the bar and headed towards the stairs. She watched his departure from the outline of his shadow, watching him make for the stairs, and, she assumed, the rooms above. Eyes lift in that regard, and the air hung heavy with intrigue.

Sid appeared once more, leaning her hip against the bar's edge next to Viki, inhaling both her scent and her essence all at once. It seemed to have an overall calming effect on the Ancient. Why it was needed or whatever was the matter prior to her sudden reappearance, Viki did not ask. "Wha' does he speak to ye, Shimmer" Inside."

"Death and sad songs wash over that one. All alone, but I did naut see much of his eyes." She swirled, enveloping the Ancient in her thin arms, whether it was warranted or not. A face to her side, then pressed into her clothing, a drug to surpass all drugs.

The Ancient embraced her readily, pressing her face into Viki's hair of dual color.

She thinks of memories....something....sparking....just....Ahh it is gone!

"I be cautious o' strangers. Keep ye eyes bright, Shimmer. I note he kept from touchin', e'en incidentally."

Snuggling for a stitch of time, Viki then peeled herself free to address the situation as best she could, though a collection of details was hard for her to handle. "Maybe he is like the Lover, where touch is naut wanted...Though I took it anyway." Her grin was impish.

"Aye, mayhaps. An' ye be a clever one, Shimmer."

And someone will come at you with the same opinion, and you will know him by the malice in his voice and the air he plays at breathing.

"Manon..." It was spoken without real meaning. Nay. It sounded much like Mother. A call for comfort before eyes began to roam again, landing on Tasha and Talomar. The pair were encased in shadow, talking low, flickering in and out of sight.

"Shimmer..." Sid whispered, her hand tangled in a soothing touch to Viki's hair. The pet name was spoken with something the seer thought of as possession, but more loving.

"You know me.." Those syllables sung with secret meaning, secrets only the Ancient could've figured out, and Domikai, but that was a totally different mixture of emotion.

Sid's silvery shot eyes with Viki's words. For a moment, she looked not Ancient at all. "Aye, I do know ye."

Viki would cling to Sid all night if such was possible. She was an airy thing, alight with something akin to a milky way, apparent in those strands of her hair.

Tasha emerged from her meeting and moved towards the bar, pausing to drop her pack on the floor near Sid and Viki. Thereafter, she hugged Sid close, joining both Ancient and seer, happily tangled.

Tasha's interjection was invited of course, another ray of sunshine to add to the swirling solar system in the corner of the commons. Viki hugged the two, pressing herself tightly....and then there were three.

"I soooo need a coke,? Tasha exclaimed, mid-tangle.