Of Mind and Hope

[lief]

"How's 'bout a Dwarven rum?"

"Sounds fine to me Elren," Lief said running his finger lazily over the bar top. It was late, and a few patrons still sat about the tables. Mostly shop keepers, and city guards just getting off of duty. The patrons were mostly human, though a troll sat against the back wall and sipped lazily from a mug of steamy ale.

"Are you alright Lief?" The Bartender sat down the glass he was holding.

"To be honest Elren, no. I'm so tired of everyday being the same. I feel as though there is some thing else out there for me. I feel it in my bones, yet I can't seem find what it is I'm looking for,"

Lief pulled himself closer to the bar, the legs of the bench scraping against the wooden floor.

"Perhaps, what you are looking for doesn't exist," The old barkeep said softly.

"Don't tell me that!" Lief slammed his fist on the table then quickly lowered his voice, "Please don't say that Elren, some times that feeling is the only reason I drag myself out of bed in the morning,"

Elren sighed and resumed polishing his glasses, "I'm sorry kid, some times the truth hurts you know?"

A couple of patrons had turned to watch the exchange at the bar. Lief sighed and turned back to the bar keep, "But you can't know if it's the truth."

"That's true..." Elren stopped polishing the glass for a moment and looked toward the ceiling, "But you can't not look at the possibility,"

"Burn the possibility, things will change. You'll see."

Lief stood and walked past a snickering guard. He didn't have to ask to know what he was laughing about, He was laughing at him. He knew he sounded childish. But after so long, it truly was the only thing that kept him waking up in the morning.

Exiting the tavern he took an immediate right down the street, the night was dark and only a slender crescent moon lit his path. He wore brown slacks and a yellow hooded peasants top today. His boots were worn, He truly did look the part of a peasant. Then again, that's what he was. There was nothing special about him, he was delusional, and now Elren must think him crazy.

A deep rumbling woof interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see Roogle trailing behind him. He hadn't even noticed his dog was there, he stopped to let his big furry companion to catch up and patted his side.

Continuing down the street he turned down a side road that was as empty as he felt. He didn't mean to be so down, and he wasn't always like this. He had had a couple drinks and now he found himself sliding down hill again. He had to reach the bottom eventually, and once he hit he could just climb back up, though he doubted he would ever see the top.

[Ro]

There was a soft THUMP as boots landed on the cobbled stones of the side road, and a figure dressed all in red crouched in the duo's path. It's hooded face appeared to glance up at them, head tilted to the side curiously, before noises from far away seemed to catch it's attention. The figure stood, revealing a very female form as it trotted over to them.

"Hey, do me a favor, yeah?" she asked as she looked up at him after glancing at the dog. Her face was sweaty and filled with panic, but there was also a cool intelligence that underlied it all; she was on the run, but didn't seem in that much of a hurry. "Some guys are going to some running around that corner there," here she pointed behind her, "and ask you if you've seen a girl in a red cloak. Can you tell them that I went jumping over to that building?" She pointed to the building on the other side of the road.

Ro slapped her hands together in a steeple and bowed just a little bit as if begging. "Please? I'd really appreciate it!" she pleaded.

[lief]

Lief stammered over his own words, "Uh.. Uhm... Sure,"
He had been so deep in his own thoughts he hadn't even noticed her approach. What this person was up to wasn't his business, but he had nothing else to do, so why not?

"I.. Ugh, can tell them that,"

The sound of people running was growing louder and in the distance a couple men carrying torches had just turned a corner and headed in his direction.

"You better get goin! Me tellin' 'em anything won't amount for nothing if you're still here!"

Lief leaned against a wall and made himself appear busy sharpening his axe, he hoped he didn't appear to threatening, or perhaps even obvious. He wasn't acustomed to lying, he was raised in the country with an honest family and had always been taught that bad things happened to people who lied. Well, bad was surely better than nothing so...

"Hey you!"

Lief looked up from his axe sharpening, to not see the woman in the red cloak anywhere. That was a good sign.

"Who me?"

The men looked at him, "Yes you, do you see anyone else around here boy?"

"No sir,"

The man approached him and raised his torch, "Did you see a dainty little thing run through here with a red cloak?"

"Why sir, I reckon I did. She done jumped over that wall right there and onto that buildin'. She ran off in that direction right before you boys showed up."

The men exchanged glances and took off down an alley in the direction he had pointed them. Well, now that that was over. He smiled to himself, he loved being able to slip into his country roots. It seemed to help himself lie, which in this case. Seemed to be a good thing, those men looked angry and were brandishing a pair of pretty nasty looking cudgels.

He looked down at Roogle, "Well boy, I wonder what all that was about,"

Lief pushed himself off the wall and slid the axe haft back through his belt and made to leave. That certainly was exciting though.

[Ro]

"I stole a necklace for their lord's wife," Ro informed him from her spot of the wall, hood down as she squinted in the direction they men had gone. The sounds of their yels and footfalls were gone now, and even the light from their torches were gone. The blonde grinned down at him and his dog, smoothing the haystack that was her ponytail. "Thanks a bunch, by the way. I was getting kind of tired of running away, and it's never a good thing when I get annoyed enough to turn and fight. 'A thief who steals and runs away, lives to steal another day'."

She recited it as if it were a code of honor and jumped down so to thank him properly. Again she was struck by how tall he was; and Ro thought that Morpheus was tall. "So how do you think I can repay you, String Bean?"

[lief]

A thief? This little thing was a thief? The cogs in Lief's head turned a hundred clicks a second, everything had happened so fast. First this, thief appeared from no where. Then he was swept up in her escape and used as a distraction. And String Bean?

"String bean?" Lief couldn't think of anything to say, perhaps he was a bit slow. Here one of the most exciting things that had ever happened to him was unfolding in front of him and all he could do was repeat a nickname she gave him. He never did have a nickname before though.

"Repay me? You don't owe me anything, all I did was lie. And lying doesn't bring rewards."

He sounded like a child, but then again. What was he supposed to say?

"Where are you going now? Oh, that's right, if you tell me you'll have to kill me. And I would rather not be killed, I've had a bad enough day as it is."

[Ro]

Ro smiled at him, clearly amused. "It's because you're so damn tall, kiddo. If I didn't know you were human, I'd assume you were an elf or something," she explained first as she crouched down and held her hand out for the dog to sniff. She winked up at him. "It's true that lying is very, very bad," she giggled at her own tone; it sounded like she was lecturing him. "But you did it to save a cute girl. I'd say that you get points for that more then anything. And I'd say you're far more valuable alive then you are dead."

[lief]

Lief blushed, he knew his face was turning scarlet before he could do anything to change it, "You think I'm valuable?"

It wasn't every day a woman complimented him, he knew he wasn't an ugly person. Despite the large scar above his eye. And he might not have been able to see out of his right eye but his left worked fine and he had seen a mirror.

She was correct though, this thief was certainly a cute girl. He gave her a cursory look over and decided that she was in fact the cutest girl he had seen since he had attended his classes when he was younger. But those girls could hardly be called women, this one was.

Realization struck him like lightning. He didn't know what he truly had to offer her, but he knew what this was. He knew his chance to be something had finally arrived. It would be a shot in the dark but if he didn't take his chance now, he would live the rest of his life in regret.

"Take me with you," He said, Gulping down his embarassment, and trying to force to color from his cheeks, "I'm kinda a jack of all trades, I can hunt, track, shoot, cut down a tree and make it fall on a copper piece. I can even read and write well, and Roogle here is a great guard dog," He patted the Mastiffs broad nose, "What do you say? Give me a chance?"

[Ro]

Ro blinked up at him, clearly taken aback by his sudden fervor. She straightened so that she could peer up at his face, having noticed the cloudiness in his unseeing eye beforehand. "I can already hunt, track, and shoot, so I'm really never without food," she told him slowly. "And I can read and write as well as any scholar," she continued, glancing down at the old dog at his side as she started to circle him. Usually she would have said no flat out, seeing as she already had one headache following her around like a plague; but he had helped her, and the desperation in his voice gave her pause. She decided mentioning her own 'guard dog' would only make him feel even more foolish.

"But I can't swim and I guess a fresh supply of fire wood would be good if I can't get a room in an inn," she finished as she came around to face him again. "If I take you with me, though, you have to understand that I work alone at night. During the day, you can help me with my shows."

The smile she gave him was reassuring.

[lief]

As she went through the list of things she could already do his spirits began dropping. This may have been his chance but he blew it, he knew he blew it.

"And I can read and write as well as any scholar,"

Oh he was, stupid. He could read and write? Why had he even said that, this woman made him more nervous than the girls at school had while he was growing up. He felt as though he swallowed his tongue.

Now he felt as though she was the military recruiter, he remembered back to how he had circled him. Eying him up, only to find him lacking. He could feel his chances slipping out the window, he was too nervous to move, but his thought processes were in over drive. If only he hadn't tried to chase that boar out of the corn field, she would have said yes had his eye worked.

"If I take you with me, though, you have to understand that I work alone at night. During the day, you can help me with my shows."

"I knew I shouldn't ha.." His eyes grew large and he smiled, " You mean I can come with you?"

He nearly danced, but he didn't want to appear any more simple than he already did. The girl most likely already thought him a invalid. Which wasn't true, occasionally he would be a moment or two late on a joke or not know what to say in conversation so he remained silent but it was mainly around women he froze up. And right now he felt like ice even though she had just said yes.

"Wa.. wa...." He stuttered, "Wha.. What would I help you with?"

He needed to stop seeing her as a cute girl and as a guy, that would be the only way he could speak with her coherently, but that was next to impossible with the way she moved around him.

[Ro]

She appeared thoughtful. "Well, I suppose since you're coming along, this means I can start carrying around a bit more equipment," she explained. Usually she just made do with what she could find lying around for free and her staff; her acrobatics and dances usually brought in enough money that she figured she didn't need much else. But since it would be the three of them (with an occasional djinn; she was going to need to explain to him that the man was with her now), she might be able to do a bit more. "And you can adverstise while I concentrate on getting ready," she grinned. Usually she had to rush with her make-up as soon as she announced who she was. Luckily she'd had enough practice and didn't screw up anymore.

"And you'll be good company, too," she added with a bright smile. She held her hand out for him to shake. "The name's Red," she said in place of her real name; even if he seemed trustworthy enough, she still had to be careful; Morpheus had been a careless mistake. "And I'm a wandering clown by day, word-class thief by night."

[lief]

Lief smiled, "Carrying things I can do, advertising..." He paused as he thought. He had never been good with talking to people, but he did stand out in a crowd.

"I'm not a very talkative person."

He never really had been, prior to his coming to Temarra again he hadn't spoken to anyone besides Roogle in over a year. He would have to shake that habit if he planned to stick around this Red girl.

"My name is Lief. It's ni..." He stammered and swallowed "It's nice to meet you. Do you need a pa... pa..." he shook his head "Place to stay?"

[Ro]

"You're sweet, you know that?" she said with a grin, reaching up to pat him on the cheek. It would have been the top of his head except for the fact that he was so damn tall. "I was actually planning on finding a box to curl up in tonight like usual, but if you're offering, I'm not complaining. Lead the way Lief," she gestured, testing his name out on her tongue. It rolled off rather smoothly, so she grinned even wider, her gaze dropping down to Roogle. "Guess we'll be friends from now on, huh puppy?"

[lief]

Roogle let out a throat rumbling bark and wagged his tail, :Lief was glad or the dog being there creating a distraction, because Lief blushed again. This time he quickly turned and said, "Follow,"

The pair walked along through dark streets, down narrow roads and some that could hardly be considered walk ways. Lief knew where he was going, he never got lost. After squeezing through a small space between two buildings it let them out at the main street near the tall imposing gates to Temarra.

"My farm lies about two miles out past the gates. It's a fast walk, we'll be there soon,"

He discovered with his back turned it was much easier to talk to her. He couldn't see her, it was much like just talking to himself like he was acustomed.

"My Momma named me Lief, because as soon as I was born, a leaf blew in through the window and landed on me," Lief sighed,as they past through the city gates. Past the guards who eyed the pair suspiciously. It was really quite late after all, but one of the Guards recognized Lief and let the pair pass. After all, Lief performed excursions like these frequently.

After passing through the gates he continued on, "My mommas dead now. Pappa hasn't stopped drinkin' since, and he's barely home now that I'm here. I was away for a while, and Pappa blames me for Momma dyin', Says I wasn't there to help." He paused again, "I haven't seen him in over a month now. So I doubt he'll be there when we get there."

The road was completely empty at this time of night and the moon above provided just enough light to see a little ways before the trio. As time past a dark mass on the right began to grow bigger, it appeared to be a couple buildings. Lief turned down the side road to the farm. The main house wasn't large, but it wasn't too small either. It had two floors and appeared to be made out of stone.

"We even have a cellar," Lief announced, "That's where I stay, It's cozy down there. I keep it nice 'n clean too, I like to write sometimes so I have plenty of light. I even built a fireplace, my Pappa wasn't too happy about that one,"

Lief lead Red to the back of the farm where a strange chimney could be seen sticking out of the ground. A couple of feet beside it Lief walked and pulled open a thick wooden door leading to a set of steep steps. Roogle bounded in ahead of him and he held the door open for Red, he looked at her and he stammered once again, "Lay...lay.... Ladies fi...Fi... first," He was a country boy after all, chivalry wasn't dead with him.

Once in the cellar lief yawned and looked around, he lit a couple candles and got a couple logs started in the fire place. He was really quite proficient with starting fires, he was proud of that, it only took him a couple minutes before the logs were starting to catch.

As the room gradually filled with light you could see it was cozy. A large old Arm chair sat in a corner next to a book stand. He didn't have many, but the old leather bound manuscripts were his prized positions.

A large rug lay across the dirt floor and an old four poster bed rose in the corner across from the fire place. The bed was laden with blankets, and pillows.

"I like soft things," he said looking at the bed, "You'll sleep there,"

He took two blankets and a pillow and set himself up to sleep by the fire place.

"Feel free to wash up, I keep fresh water in the basin over by the entrance, there's a pan if you want to warm it on the fire place,"

[Ro]

She stood awkwardly in the middle of the room for a moment, taking in the homey-ness before nodding and shedding her cloak and dropping it on the chair. Rubbing her arms despite the warmth of the fire, Ro headed over to the basin, the long scar stretching from her left shoulder to her right hip now visible beneath the thin cotton top she wore. Her hair blocked it from view a few seconds later when she pulled the tie holding it up out, swaying like a thick gold curtain as she walked.

"You're lucky," she said later after having washed the dirt from her face. She was making her way back over to the fire to warm up and even more scars were visible now that the light danced across her peach-toned skin. Some were old and barely visible anymore, but a few still stood out starkly, the skin puckered and shiny. It was a wonder that no one noticed them in the daylight, but they only seemed to be where no one would look; her arms, legs, the one on her back.... "To have a place to return to like this," she added as she gestured to the room around them. "I've never had that."

She went on to explain that she had been on her own since was maybe two or three years old, although it could have been since she born. "I don't know, though," she shrugged. "I could have had parents before they left me, but I'll never know if I was abandonned willingly or something happened. Lucky I was picked by a traveling circus for a while, though."

[lief]

Lief adjusted himself on the floor, and nodded. She was certainly lucky. She would have died if the traveling show didn't pick her up.

"I reckon I am kind of lucky," He smiled to himself and pulled a blanket up, "I have a house of my own, and I got it for free,"

His stomach rumbled threateningly, "I'm kinda hungry, are you?" He stood up brushing the blanket he just pulled up aside and walked over to the northeast corner where he pulled up another trap door. He reached down and pulled out a glass jar covered in a thin layer of dust

"It isn't much," He said wiping off the glass and looking over to red, he stammered, "ba... ba... bat wing. It... it.. it..s its not as bad as it sounds. Many people eat them because they're so. abu.. abundant,"

He pried the lid off the jar and pulled one out. It was a leathery looking thing, and did actually look like a bat. He grabbed a long steel pan and put a couple on it before holding it over the fire which by now was raging. The bat wings cooked quickly and he held the pan out to Red.

[Ro]

She gave him a reassuring smile. "I can garuntee you that bat wing is a delicacy when you're scrounging for food as much as I am," she told him gently. He was so awkward around her that she felt just a tad bad (which was odd, because usually she liked to tease those who weren't use to girls like her). "I'll eat anything you cook, I promise."

Ro went and plopped down in front of the fire, holding her hands in front of it to warm them while Roogle shifted beside her. After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "Awefully nice of you to just invite me in like this, even though I'm taking you with me. Are you sure that I'm not going to rob you blind while you sleep?" she asked. Blue eyes peered back at him over her shoulder. "You don't even know if I gave you my real name."