[Adelie]

Nomadic, perhaps, was one of the many words one could use to describe him.  He was one of the traveling merchants who wandered the streets of nearby towns, hawking cheap, and often useless, goods to the innocent, naive bystanders who didn't know what it was they were buying.

Hey, swindling made much more money than honest marketing.

He was a young man of perhaps 23 years of age--one might wonder how he got into this business at all, for it looked like he had had a bright future in front of him, and the career path of street merchant was neither known for job stability, high profit margins, nor even a high quality of living.  His long, orange-streaked black hair seemed to have been cut by an novice barber with nothing but some sharpened flint stone, and it hung in long folds and layers around his face.  Bright green eyes seemed to brighten the drab black suit he had on, however, and he himself seemed to give a sense of vitality to the area around him.  Youth, after all, was a good thing, and one that was greatly desired by many.

He yawned, showing small white teeth, patting the black fur on his small, Rattegan ears.  There had barely been any sales of his wares today, no matter how many tourists had passed by and glanced at them.  Figures.  After all, what business were you to expect in a forest?  Enchanted maidens popping out of nowhere to buy your baubles?  Happy little pixies blessing you with eternal good luck in return for a box of costume jewelry?  Alas.  He'd just have to move back to Aldrect the next morning to rejuvenate his profits.

That, at least, would have been a good plan had he not been permanently banned from selling anything within five feet of Aldrect city limits.

What luck.

[[Okay, okay, I utterly fail at role-plays.  My skills are getting rusty.  Don't kill me.  Also, if you choose to join this role-play, I suggest you:
a. Be Random Event 2.  Not that RE2 is actually going to show up here for me.  This is optional.
b. Be online, perferably once a day.
c. Write more than 5 sentences, unless they're overly long like mine.  I can write 42-word sentences. x3]]

[Azura Rayume]

---

Silence --- Donicus

Two shadows lurled in the darkness, skirting from shadow to shadow as they followed the merchant. One was tall, about the same age as the Rattegan man; the other about the hight of a 13-year-old.

"What are we doing here, Donicus?" asked the smaller in a whisper. He seemed almost afraid to speak.

The companion called Donicus sighed. "Same thing we do ever day, Silence: surviving. We just happen to survive in a more... unconventional way. Now be quiet!"

Silence appeared hurt. "Your talking more than me..," he muttered, only to recieve a quick shush. He responded with a flutter of his leathery wings.

"I said be quiet!" Donicus hissed, his reptilian tail swishing in aggitation.

Silence simply stuck out his tongue, as if to say, "I didn't say anything. Donicus silently vowed never to take this kid with him ever again.

[Adelie]

((-headdesks- Oh my goodness, I'm really sorry for being an insanely slow, impossible role-player.  I forget about my threads every so often.  -pets, snuggles, and tries to win back Azura's love-))

He was sure he heard something, but that was unlikely; this place was deserted around this time of day.  It was near dusk, after all, and most tourists would be leaving by this time, unless they were planning on spending the night in one of those 'camping grounds' scattered around the forests.  Really, he disliked tourists.  They would come around, litter the place with their useless rags and empty water bottles, and they wouldn't even buy anything, because, oh, the prices were too high or they had spent too much just getting there.

The idea of camping grounds raised a question in his mind.  Where, after all, was he to sleep that night?  The trees did not seem to be very hospitable, and he had a natural fear of heights.  And the ground was no comfortable bed either, but he supposed it was the best there was to be had.  He'd make do with it; long years of alley life had made him like the idea better.

With a yawn, he lay down on the ground and promptly fell asleep.

[Azura Rayume]

Donicus gave a wild grin as the Rattegan man laid down. Now was their chance! He made a quick motion to his companion, then crept from the bushes, trying to stay as low as this human-esque form would allow. His tail swung behind him, making slight swishing noises like a branch in the wind. Much louder and the merchant might awake.

Silence followed close behind, wings pulled tight around his thin frame. His ears pressed flat against his head to keep them from catching the wind. (The noise always gave him a headache.) He refused to look up, keeping his pale grey eyes trained on the bright orange tip of Don's tail.

The Shinzo was behind the merchant now. He looked the sleeping man over, attempting to find where he kept that omnipresent money pouch these folk always had. Ah! There it was. He reached out and tried to grab it, but only managed to jingle the coins within. Behind him, he heard Silence flinch back in alarm. Drat!

((Tis alright, Tazzin. My muse was apparently dead or something for a while. But it's back now. :D ))

[Adelie]

One would have thought the man would have awakened at this interruption, but no.  He hadn't had a good night's sleep for a while, as usually someone was occupying the alley he had taken for his bed and kicked him out, or an annoying, bothersome police officer decided to round up all the vagrants in the area.  What idiots, always sticking their noses into things that they didn't need to know about.  He wasn't selling some addictive, dangerous drug, after all, just simple trinkets.  What did it matter if he earned a couple extra dollars from the unsuspecting buyers by way of trickery?  He needed to live, didn't he?

A slight snore slipped out of the rattegan man's nostrils, and he turned over sleepily, not noticing much of his surroundings.  (Not to mention the fact that when you're asleep, you're usually not looking around for people about to steal your money.)  He curled up into a more fetal position for warmth as a cool wind swept over, and appeared to lapse back into a deep, unmoving sleep.  Street-wise, perhaps, but not well educated in the ways of the wild.

[Azura Rayume]

Donicus breathed a sigh of relief. As long as this guy stayed asleep, they should be fine. The only problem was, he'd moved! There was no way he could get that purse now. He adopted a rather irritated look as he tried to figure this one out.

Silence sat down beside the stranger, a content expression on his face. His ears pricked forward slightly, catching the faint sound on the sleeping man's breathing. Being a night creature, he'd always found a strange calm while watching others sleep.

((Silence is.... strange, no? Crazy little bat kid.))

[Adelie]

Sometimes, he hated sleeping.  Sure, it was something you had to do to live; sure, he did feel really bad after being up for a long while.  But he'd always had recurring nightmares.

He was a miniature rattegan, cowering on the floor shaking as a tall form towered above him.  He knew this form, though it was but a single looming shadow, formless as the open sea.  Rexxel.  They were one of the creatures rattegans feared most.  It was perhaps why he stayed in a human form, where he had an equal chance against predators.  Well, not truly equal.

He could feel that this was a dream, but yet there seemed no way to get out of it.  The rexxel approached, bells jingling in a way that filled him with fear, even though the melody was enchanting and beautiful.  Generations of instinct filled him, but he was no match for a rexxel once it had found him.  He was a goner.  He saw the light glint off sharp claws, fangs glitter--and then it was upon him.  He felt fangs touch his small, limp body...

And then he was awake, drenched in sweat and looking very confused.  He saw the two people in front of him and inquired, voice light as if he hadn't just scared the wits out of himself, "Who are you?"

[Azura Rayume]

The first thought that entered Donicus's mind was something along the lines of, "Oh, snap!" But that was quickly replaced with a wide grin and an urge to laugh when he looked at Silence. The poor boy had been so starteled by the man's sudden movement, he'd fallen over.

Silence glared up at the Shinzo. No doubt he looked rediculous, but it wasn't polite to laugh at someone who'd just been scared half to death. He pushed himself upright again, and stared the the stranger. The Batti parts of him were picking up on minute changes in the man's appearance: the beads of sweat on his brow, that frightened look in his eyes. Not to mention how much his breathing had changed since the first time Silence had seen him. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

[Adelie]

The last remnants of his dream still lingered in his mind, but they were dissipating.  He felt himself calm down, realizing that all he were seeing were two innocent travelers in the woods.  He didn't stop to wonder why, exactly, were they there.

"I'm fine, really," he said, a note of false cheer in his voice.  He began to wonder if he should perhaps check his bags to make sure that nothing was missing from them; he'd thought he was alone in the forests but these new arrivals seemed to prove him wrong.  But checking seemed...a little rude.

"You wouldn't happen to be here for one of my Yonyuu feather trinkets, would you?" he said, reaching into his bag and rummaging around to pull out what appeared to be a tangled mass of glue, glowing green feathers, and faux gems.  He looked at it, not seeming to notice how perfectly grotesque it looked.  To himself, he noted that he really needed to get a better inventory; for example, something less unique and more appealing to the masses.

[Azura Rayume]

Silence stared at the trinket in awe. The little gems sparkled in the moonlight, as beautiful as the stars themselves. "Can I... hold it?" he asked, slightly tenative. In truth, he was afraid of breaking the "stones" and feathers.

Donicus sighed, glaring at Silence. The boy was so niave... But maybe he could use that. He put on a friendly smile and pulled his jacket closer to his thin frame. "Actually, we were looking for something a bit more practical. You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat in that bag of yours, would you? This boy and I have been traveling for days now, but we seem to have run out of provisions."

Silence glared up at his conpanion. He really wanted the shiny thing!

[Adelie]

"Sure," he said with a smile, though a little confused, considering he didn't think it was very interesting.  But he liked children.  Admittedly, he was mean and selfish most of the time, but he liked children.  Little quirk of his.

"Food?"  He was rather protective of his provisions, but he liked the two of them.  They seemed nice enough at the moment, although he was a little suspicious.  But he was always suspicious.  "I'm sorry to hear that, but I have very little myself, since I've been traveling too.  But what I have I suppose I could share," he said, reaching into his bag and digging out what appeared to be a slightly stale bread crust.  Mmm.  That seems quite appetizing.