[Feint]

It was a typical day in the town of Nabias, a bustling and remote marketplace bordered by seething ocean on one side and bloodthirsty forest on the other. For such a seemingly unlikeable piece of real estate, it prospered rather well. Adventurers and the insane always made this a stop on their journeys, as it was their second stop for supplies and only stop for kilometers of untamed wilderness.

As such, it also bragged of having the world's largest hospital facility.

Aside from the steady flow of journeymen both injured and well, the town sported a rather large barter-style marketplace, where goods such as food, bandages, exotic pets, and even small trophies from hunts most manly were up for sale for the distant home's mementos, such as a clean pair of socks.

Among the traders, there were a few regulars, and among the traders, there were sometimes some very exotic or valuable things exchanged, but none came close to the regality and wealth of the bi-weekly white-haired blind girl, Feint. She lived nearby, she claimed, and had simply run out of grains for her meals, so would this golden locket, pure and in perfect condition, be enough for a pound or two?

Sellers were ecstatic when Feint came into town.

Adventurers themselves were wary--where would such a finely dressed young woman such as herself live in that dense, frightening wilderness? She was called a demon, a monster in disguise, a witch that robbed travelers for ingredients for her wicked spells, and above all, a liar. Her name was familiar to most, and whispered with sneers or suspicious glares along with a disbelieving shake of the head. If a new traveler did not know her, older ones were happy to share their made-up stories of all the fantastical riches in the world she paid to those that sold grains, and the occasional pair of shoes. Though most took the stories in humor, an occasional few would attempt to follow her back to her home, hoping to steal a glance or a gem from her supposed piles and piles of gold jewelry.

None ever came back, but whether she had been at fault or they simply did not return to Nabias after they had gotten their prize was never made clear, and no one truly cared.


On this particular fine day, Feint had once again made an appearance, dressed in her favorite sky blue robes with a knee-length white skirt and handcrafted black sandals. Draped across her closed eyes was, as usual, a blindfold of the purest black cloth. She came with a tan bag on her hip, and requested a guide to whomever was selling fruits that day. Normally she did not need a guide, but seeing as she had never bought fruits before, did not at all know where they might be located and could not find them easily with all the moving bodies and noise. The nearby amigos squatting on a half-mashed park table noticed her helplessness and whispered cruel blind jokes and women jokes, each laughing louder than the one next to them and glancing 'round to be sure their foolish behavior was noticed. Ignoring them patiently, Feint again requested an aid, this time with a bit more volume.

[Kitsumi]

In all of his wanderings, during all of the years of his life - a larger much more than people who saw him would guess - Tyre could honestly say that he had never been to this part of Evelon. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the Town of Nabias, nor was it a difference in tastes. Tyre could adjust to any type of setting, quite easily, in fact. He simply hadn't taken the time to explore Nabias. In all honesty, it had sounded a bit...well, boring to him.

Now, though, he had finally decided to see what it was like. There was a bustling of people, and several stands in which things that Tyre had never seen before - a rarity, or so he had thought, since he had lived several hundreds of years and seen what he had thought was most of the things he could see. Apparently, though, he had been wrong.

As a woman came near, obviously blind, judging by the cloth over her eyes, the tittering of whispers and words spoken softly into ears began. Tyre had no idea what it was about, but he himself would not engage in it. It was rude to talk behind a person's back.

When the woman asked for help, Tyre waited for somebody to volunteer. Plenty of people had been eager to guide him to various stalls and 'treasures' earlier when he had arrived, and he wasn't blind as the woman was. Surely somebody would be willing to help her, right? But even as she called again, there was no answer save for the mocking of a nearby group of people.

Seeing their laughter and cruel jokes, Tyre was inflamed with anger. "How dare you enjoy yourself at the expense of another?" He said, glaring at them. With one hand, he swiped all of their belongings, which had been set on the table at which they sat, onto the ground, ruining some of it while dirtying the rest. "If you are such animals that you would do such a thing, perhaps you should be penned up, or hunted, like the animals which you imitate. If you are not gone by the time I am done helping this beautiful lady, I will be sure to show you how animals like you are treated." There was power within his voice, a sort of power that usually brought fear to the mortals he spoke to when using it. If this group was anything like the others, they would quickly disperse.

Turning to the woman, he took her hand and folded it in the crook of his arm, patting it gently. "I admit that I have never been here before today," he said. "But I believe that I saw a vender selling fruits on my way in. I would be happy to guide you there."

[Feint]

Seeing their belongings strewn across the floor caused the rude amigos to stop their clowning, if only for a minute to gaze in shock at the dirtied produce and trinkets. Angry yelling quickly followed, and the closest of the amigos stood from his chair, fists balled, itching to fight.

At first Feint turned away to ignore them, but suddenly froze for just a moment. Gracefully, she turned back and raised her free hand, palm facing the men. A beam of light fired from her palm, knocking them and the table backward--into the waiting arms of bruisers from the nearby bar, alerted by the sound of goods crashing to the floor. "They were fighting amongst themselves," Feint lied, "Please get these gentlemen under control."

"Thank you for your aid, m'lady," one of the bruisers, a hefty battleheart in hulking human form, replied, tapping his forehead with the side of a finger and hauling a protesting amigo away, gruffly ordering him to save his whining for the kangaroo court they would be having shortly.

Feint turned back to her guide's side, her free hand gracefully placed itself on top of his arm, just over the other. She tilted her head in the direction of his voice with uncanny accuracy, and apologized for causing such a scene. "I would very much appreciate your guidance, " she responded in a voice and with a face that remained passive and unchanged, "My fruit-bearing trees at home are dying, and one would fall ill without fruits." An odd comment, to be sure, but her pretty voice had a tone in it that suggested she did not do much talking and was unused to conversation.

Finding her fruit, funny comments aside, would be a bit of a challenge. The marketplace was tightly packed with rapidly moving bodies, as though it were not a place to barter but a place to engage in dance, making any stall beyond the two or one in front of you impossible to see. The roar of their haggling and idle chatter filled the air for miles around, making it impossible to simply call out to the fruit-seller. It would have taken the poor girl years to have found it on her own. To make matters worse, one of the aggressive men had evaded capture and was clearly perturbed at them, making loud comments and coming slowly up behind them as if to follow them and make a brawl of the massive market-crowd.

[Kitsumi]

((Sorry, this is gonna be a fail post >.>))

Of course, the men were only angered by Tyre's actions. Just his luck. It wasn't as if he couldn't easily take them; quite the opposite, he could do so with his eyes closed and one arm tied behind his back. Before he could even turn to face them, though, Feint had them taken care of, along with the bruisers.

"Well, that was certainly something," he said. At her talk about fruits, he smiled. "One certainly must not be without fruits, that is for sure. Was there a particular type of fruit you were looking for? Or were you perhaps wanting the seeds, to possibly bring in new trees since yours aren't fairing so well?" He began walking as he spoke, at a slow, ambling pace.

Tye was sure to clear the area in front of Feint as they walked. A glare was enough to cause some to move, and a quick nudge along with the common 'pardon us,' or 'excuse me' did it for the rest. He had noticed their shadow, and hoped that there would be no trouble. As a demigod, he would be able to easily get rid of the man were he to start anything. But Tyre really did hate resorting to violence of any sort, especially in such a crowded area as this.

"Might I inquire of your name, madame?"

{2}

[Feint]

Feint was quiet for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

"The trees are dying of unnatural causes," she explained, "Planting new ones would not bring me any fruit."

"As to the subject of which fruits I intend to buy, I have not yet decided. I was hoping the fruit-seller would have suggestions for me, but perhaps that is not the wisest choice, as I cannot see the quality of the fruits they would be selling me. Perhaps you can help me? Do you often eat fruits sold here?" she asked, turning to face her gentleman helper with whom she was easily keeping stride despite the bumps and shoves she was getting from the bustling, bustling crowd. Moving aside they were, yes, but moving aside from the taller lucain! They did not see the pale blind woman at his side, and were not watching where they were running in their efforts to dodge his fiery eyes. Feint, of course, did not mind, as she was so used to this marketplace, but it was not very considerate of the people that lacked her disability.

"Ah, my name? I am surprised you have not heard it yet, it seems to be well known here. You are new, then--welcome. My name is Feint; you are?" she asked, turning to face him again in that oddly knowing way of hers, as though she could see beneath that blindfold.

Meanwhile, the shadow, whom Feint had not detected, yelled something drowned out by the market noise and tried to shove his way at the receding figures, but the tidal waves of shoppers held him back. Recklessly he tried to plow his way through people until he exhausted himself and was shoved back by a nonplussed customer who had, because of him, shattered a couple of exotic fowl eggs he now had to pay for. Bruisers were called for, but did not appear, forcing the regular townspeople to attempt to get him away from the trouble he had started by themselves. The commotion of them struggling to take control caught Feint's notice at last, and her head gave the slightest tilt in its direction as she spoke, curious at the disturbance.

[Kitsumi]

"That's odd," Tyre's head tilted ever so slightly, as he pondered why her trees could be dying. "Has the soil around them lost it's fertility? Or perhaps some sort of animal is burring at the trees roots or something like that."

Answering her question honestly, he said, "I myself have never bought fruits here. But I have lived quite a long time, and I have experience with fruits." His best friend growing up had been the son of Karpo, Goddess of the Fruits of the Earth. "I'm sure if you tell me what sort of nutrients you are looking to add or retain in your diet, and I can find an acceptable variety of fruit that will meet your request. I can also be your eyes to see if the fruit is too young or too ripe, as well."

Tyre blushed at her words, something that was uncharacteristic for him. "Yes, I am new here," he confessed. "But even if I had heard a name, I prefer to hear it again from the person themselves. Some of the names you hear spoken out of hatred or fear are not ones you would repeat." It was a bit odd, the way she seemed to know exactly where Tyre was. He almost wondered if the blindfold was ruse, and if she could see through it; but no, what would she gain from that? "My name is Tyre Ingen, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Feint."

Noticing the disturbance that their follower was causing, Tyre debated doubling back and taking care of him before any more trouble was caused. He felt partly responsible for the disturbance, and felt a bit of guilt as he watched what was happening. In the end, he simply continued to guide Feint. Seeing that she seemed a bit curious, he said in a low tone, "It's one of the men from before; he was following us. I believe he's being held up by the many people he has angered now, though."

{3}

[Feint]

Feint pondered his suggestions genuinely, despite already knowing the cause. To give herself a few moments more to consider, she answered his other questions first.

"That would be helpful," she answered, "I have never myself given much mind to the fruit I was eating... I always just assumed the ones growing locally were the right ones. All I need is something for my health; I don't suppose just any fruit would do that, Tyre Ingen?" she asked with a smile that was almost partly amused smirk. "You seem knowledgeable on more than the fruits borne by trees, and I must agree; there are far too many bad apples in this world. My trees are dying by neither soil nor creature--and yet, perhaps they are. The cause of the death of my fruit trees is a person, someone I crossed many years ago; she has, using innocent people's minds, found a trace of a memory of me in someone I once met and followed that trace, using the other people there that day when we had met until she came upon someone who knew nearly everything about me. Using their brain, she telepathically followed me all the way to my home outside of Nabias without even taking a step outside her ditch. She then placed a curse upon it, crippling the land and depriving me of food." She paused, flooded with memories, and sighed, shaking her head pityingly, both for the victims this mysterious cruel woman had tortured and for the woman herself, ignorant to her own curse's futility. "I can make gold with the powers my goddess has given me, so I can easily buy my own meals. It saddens me, though, knowing I can never--what a racket. Are the bruisers here?" she asked, turning her head to face the uproar the likely drunk idiot attempting to rhino through the massive crowd to get at them had caused. Her tone, however, suggested that she might have been worried that the bruisers were not there, as opposed to concerned that the bruisers were not cleaning the mess up. Feeling Tyre slip away from her, she stood where she was, poking at the corners of her range of perception with her aura sensory abilities, becoming more and more concerned when she did not perceive a single hulking form. A twinge of fear started in her heart, and she counted from memory how many bruisers there had been versus troublemakers. The twinge of fear became a vein of concern as she realized they had been outnumbered by nearly double.

"Tyre," she called urgently once he was near, instinctively reaching out to his figure, something she perceived as a large, longish mass of light against the darkness of the dirt and dead wooden stalls, as though seeing with heat in heavy, humid fog. "Were the bruisers there to help you?"