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[Angel]

The Mood.

This thread has a 400 word a post minimum but is otherwise open.

It was a white day.

Despite it's brightness, the coloring the air was nice to the person walking through the soft snowfall. The air was bitter and cold, but there was no icy wind to make it unbearable and Kaimu did feel that despite the sky's blanket of clouds.. the sun was behind there trying to get through. You could almost feel it's warmth, like it had been closer now than it had been in days.

Despite the fact that the land looked so drenched in the snow that it took on the whiteness of the falling flakes so deeply, the snow was falling in a windless state and so softly that it would be magical to the right person. Obviously though, that hadn't been the case in the last few days, and people were walking out of their homes in the village drenched in snow, going about the chores they possibly hadn't been able to do in days. Smoke filled the air as people were able to restock their wood supply, keeping the fires that provided them warmth to the harsh elements alive just in case there was more storms ahead of them.

It seemed only the children were truly happy with the events, outside playing in the snow. A few of the warmly wrapped boys and girls were having a snowball fight next to the Inn, with one of the boys aiming a neatly packed projectile at another child. However, his aim was a bit off and it hit the sign of the inn itself, causing it to swing a bit, letting off the snow that had been neatly piled above it's hanging form. The children that had no part in this slightly violent act were building a snowman next to the general store. It was coming along well, the snow fall had been more than enough to give the children plenty to pack up.

Kaimu, despite her lack of emotions while walking past that she had most at common with these beings. The ones that instead of focusing on the gloom, were trying to just react positively to their surroundings. She didn't realize though the big difference between them, that the children were able to do so because they still carried magic in their hearts. Though that wasn't her fault, there is no way she could have known what that feeling was like.

The falling flakes from above were gently resting on her armor and she made no attempt to shake it off. The building she walked was especially steaming and smoking from the top and the smoke almost had a strange metallic scent. Curious (if it could be called that) of what was causing the smoke to smell of metal, Kaimu wiped the condensation off the window as best as she could and peered in the building.

Inside, she got a glimpse of a man working hard against the flame, pounding away at some raw iron, obviously attempting to mold it into shape. She realized that this must be a blacksmith, and he probably was the only person in the city who was feeling intensely hot instead of the extreme cold. Maybe now that he could fuel his flames he chose this activity to escape the elements. Either way, Kaimu realized that she had nothing to do with the man and walked on.

This small village to the north of a country that seemed to still be in the old ages, a land of war, dragons and swords was perfect for Kaimu. A few of the mothers that were out int he cold to check on their children out playing were the first to notice Kaimu walking by, and seemed to be a bit nervous by her appearance. Not often you saw a child walking around so heavily armored, but surely it was not unheard of as well. The strange thing was though, that it was a young lady instead of a young man, though even that was not unheard of in a land where gender was less of a problematic thing than in the Earthly ancient ages. In this land, young women rode out with young men to war, all to fight for their country and king. As long as the young girl wasn't violent toward their children though, she was welcome and a few of them hoped that she had a place to go to during the night.. because the children who had to defend themselves like that were normally the homeless ones who had to wear their weapons and armor as the closest thing to parental protection.

But when it was obvious that Kaimu was uninterested in giving the children trouble, they went about their business, letting the young armored lass head for a tree in the middle of the square. The place she gathered, was used to snowfall and the like, and the normal things that might accompany a square of a village with four seasons were not evident, things such as fountains and plenty of greenery. This tree was probably special, the type of tree that thrived in the extreme cold. Enjoying this spot of life, she put her sword to the side and rested her weary body against it's form. Kaimu sat back against it's strength and just looked onward out at the snow, the happy children, and everything else.

Speaking her first words, the soft, light, but almost dreary and airy voice rang out to be quickly lost in the brisk air. "This is a nice place to watch." and that was true. It was the perfect place for the onlooker Kaimu, the eternally displaced.

[Kismet]

The whiteness was almost overwhelming. The meeting of earth and sky was lost somewhere in the endless snow, an indistinguishable line where the ice plastered horizon met silent clouds. It was as if the entire world had been reduced to a blank canvas, the blemishes of the past erased by the silky iridescence of the night’s snow. A whole new world waiting for a mark to be stamped upon it. The perfect place for a beginning.

A figure emerged from the swirling eddies of the pallid waste, a slender column of black robes among the flurries, like a brush upon canvas. Behind him, only the narrow line of his footprints marked his passing. And though nothing lay before him to obstruct him, the way was unclear. The emptiness was disorienting, an all encompassing illusion of nothingness.

That’s more or less how everything had been for Kismet recently.

Kismet, as far as he could tell, had been born about four months previously. Upon opening his eyes, he had already known who he was, what he was, and everything that would be required for him to survive. He had been given a young, fit body, and a whole mess of memories that made little to no sense. They jumbled and swirled together, mixing and clashing against each other like a chaotic storm. The turbulence within was only balanced by the silence without. But Kismet was not overly concerned with such ironies. He had had three days to contemplate his situation as he’d meandered meaninglessly through the snow. He was much more preoccupied with his cantankerous stomach, which was complaining rather loudly. That, and he was really freaking cold.

Massaging his grumpy, wet stomach, he withdrew a small green apple from his robe and eyed it petulantly. He had started his journey with a whole batch of them, all of them laid out helpfully for him to find. And while they had been delicious, they hadn’t exactly been filling. Now, he was down to his last one, and feeling rather out of luck. Sighing, he took a bite and swallowed.

“Well shit.”

Kismet consumed the entire apple, core, stem and all, in three more bites. After several seconds of consideration, he decided that this royally sucked. His stomach growled in agreement. But suddenly, his nose disagreed.

Kismet stopped, sniffing. Smoke. He was smelling smoke. He had never smelled it before, but he knew what it was. Smoke meant fire. Fire meant warmth. Fire often meant food. Kismet turned his head to the sky, straining his eyes for the white-on-white of the gently falling snowflakes. The wind was nearly nonexistent, and try as he might, Kismet couldn’t determine from which direction it was blowing from. Whirling around, he scanned the horizon, searching for smoke. After a few moments, he finally found it-a thin gray smudge against the all encompassing white. Score.

Now that there was a possibility that he wasn’t going to just waste away and freeze to death, Kismet picked up his pace, chugging through the snow with renewed vigor. After a few minutes of struggle, he came to the top of a small hill overlooking, as it would turn out, a small village. Hopefully one with food. Children played in the snow, throwing snowballs and generally making a mess of things while their parents huddled off to the sides and watched. Kismet noted that the eagle eyed adults had already spotted him atop the hill, and were eyeing him warily. Parents. Most people had those.

His increasingly noisy stomach ordering him on, he descended from the rise and made his way down the slope and into the town. The children continued their games, only the oldest of their number noting his presence. The adults remained ever watchful, but did not move to greet or banish him from their cozy winter village. The homes here were low and squat, with thick stone walls to retain heat. Thick bundles of hay were stuffed into their sharply slanted rooftops for the same purpose, and Kismet saw more than one cat taking refuge there. But cats could not dispense charity. Without being, well. Eaten. Opting not to raise the wrath of the villagers by devouring their beloved pets, Kismet made his way to the town square. A single tree occupied its center, and its shade was occupied by a single girl. A knight, in fact. Interesting. Female warriors were rare among his jumbled memories, though not unheard of. He briefly noted that the girl did not at all look dressed for cold weather, but all of his thoughts were suddenly turned to the delicious smell of hot food emanating from the house to his immediate left.

A small, portly women had opened the door and squawked for her children to return home for dinner, and had thus released a savory assortment of tantalizing smells directly into Kismet’s path. His stomach roared to life, demanding that it be fed. Loudly. The women turned to him and raised her eyebrows.

“Dear me, look at you, frozen half to death.” She slipped on a pair of fur boots by the door and shuffled out into the snow, next to Kismet. “Go warm yourself up by the fire in there.” she said, pointing to a building across the square, the sound of clanging iron ringing from it. A blacksmith’s forge, perhaps. “I’ll be bringing along some supper for my husband in there, I’ll see if I can round you up some food as well.”

“Oh!” Kismet replied, surprised. That was easy. “Thank you.” He smiled embarrassedly to the women, but she had already swept back inside, out of the cold. Wrapping his arms around himself, he turned and made his way back across the square, passing by tree and the girl again. Unfortunately, the snow covering the ground also covered the tree’s roots. And so it was with some surprise that Kismet found himself laying face down in the snow. It’s probably fortunate that his mouth was full of the stuff and muffled his speech, because his verbal response was not print worthy.

[Angel]

Kaimu simply watched as she saw someone come in and gather everyone's attention. He was grarbed in a very contrasting appearance in comparison to the rest of the people and places around her and didn't look like he was from around here at all. Like the mothers, Kaimu was focused on the individual for a time being. Someone who was so different might start , though that wasn't always the case. Maybe here was here to fix the balance of things.

Either way, Kaimu lost interest in staring at him and was now listening to the loud group of kids that were getting closer and closer to her position in the square. What started as a snowball fight now seemed to be escalating to a full on fight by the look of things. The boys were on one side and the girls were on another and they seemed to be arguing.

"Whaddaya talking about? You buncha babies can't beat real men!" one of the boys, a cute young one said, obviously trying to assert himself as the ring leader of the boys. He had a bit of a fang to his mouth that was probably rather adorable looking to the older girls of the area, Kaimu figured. He was wearing a brown outfit that looked a bit thin looking to be worn in the cold, but he seemed to be just fine with his current clothing. Maybe he was a poor child.

One of the girls, a blonde haired girl who was wearing a big puffy pink outfit that seemed to keep her warmer than the rest, took up the response. "What do you mean? Liek I keep saying and stuff, Girls can do everything boys can do and even better, uh-huh!" she said, and the other girls around her nodded their agreement. Some of the children that were making the snowmen at this point got too curious at the display, so they walked over through the thick snow to join in the argument, falling into the predictable gender lines.

Kaimu noted how such things were still good in her opinion, they represented balance as well. Two different sides, two different equal sides with neither side outweighing the other by a large majority. This allowed both sides to have a say and if they managed to work through it, it gave the world peace. Her ideals were all she had and she really liked to note them in practice. Entranced by the conversation just for that fact.. she started focusing on them. Sure, one or two more boys might live here and they might have them on their side, but 1 or 2 didn't matter too much when there was still 6 or 7 girls to the 8 or 9 boys.

But the kids continued their conversation eagerly, not being anywhere near done.

"Nu-uh, ur too buseh trying ta look "cuute" or being babies 'bout bugs n junk." he said, obviously showing that typical gender roles were alive and well here. He also had a very thick accent, which some of the children seemed to have but others didn't. The girl in pink wasn't one of them and she didn't seem happy with his comment. The girl pouted a bit at the sound of it, as if she was still soaking it in her lips and then stuck out her tongue, responding.

"Nu-uh! I like bugs! And if we wanted to be cute so much we would be wearing dresses and stuff instead of our muddy snowsuits! We look the same!" she said, stamping her foot obviously annoyed with the boys typical response. The other kids around the children were simply nodding, obviously just going along with the leaders opinion.

The boy made a panicked sound, obviously wondering what he was going to say next! His opitions were running out, things were in danger mode! He had a very noticeable sweat even in this cold and was stuttering to find something to say.

But this just happened to be when Kaimu started to stand up, noticing that the man who had traveled over had found his goal of a warm place to stay and food. A kind woman had offered it so easily and so Kaimu was proceeding to get ready to head over herself. Figuring that if she was that helpful for just some passing man, he would help her as well. However, the ring leader, now to be named Roger was too busy noticing the girls outfit under the armor, he found enough ammunition for a desperation shot!

"Nu-uh! Look at that stupid girlie! Freezin hur legs off just she can all be "cuute"! Y'all like that, y'all are!" he said that while dramatically point over at Kaimu and suddenly all eyes were on her again, much to her dismay. Though Roger was starting to blush as he was saying all of this. Because truthfully, he was the type who already was starting to crush on girls and thought the blonde girl opposite him, named Emily, was very pretty and especially when she was mad and flustered. He was having a ton of fun because it was like making a doll angry when he teased her. He just had to keep going so he could see her more angry as long as possible.

The Mood.

Kaimu was about to try and say something, trying to gather herself and her thoughts and sound natural.. which was hard for someone who felt still like she was getting used to her surroundings but it was just as this moment that the traveling man walked over and tripped over the hidden root, falling face first in the snow. With a thud, snow kicked up and all the children and all of their attention was on the man. The kids all started laughing, but the girls then giggled at the boys while taunting them, "See? But boys are so stupid that they just fall right on their face."

This made the boys feel flustered, and Roger came over to Kismet and looked down on him with a angry look on his face. "This guy isn't a real man! He's probableh a wuss or summfin." obviously upset that now someone was making the boys look bad and he had lost his newly found ground to stand on.

Kaimu however, came over and stuck her hand out to the man, obviously offering her aid. The man was alot more interesting to her, as he had already found things that she desired. The kids weren't really that interesting to her anymore, but the attention that they were giving was bothering her. She wasn't the type that liked to be noticed. However, Roger decided to bring her back into the conversation once again, meainglessly trying to gain his ground again. "Anyway, at least he's not as stupid as that girl, thinking it's dress up time and spring time at the same time and stuff."

Attention was the last thing Kaimu wanted. He wasn't sure how to respond to these kids, what he should say or do. He focused on trying to help the man up.. hoping that maybe he could get her out of this sticky situation with into a warmer one.

[Kismet]

“Fargle wargle” is probably the closest approximation one can find to the noise Kismet made as the girl extended her hand to him. He gingerly raised his face out of the stinging cold snow and accepted the offer of help, rising as he did so.

“Thank you.” He said, groaning. He had been wandering across the ice fields for three days, and it had taken all he had not to stay lying in the snow. It was only now that he realized how truly weakened he had become. But he couldn’t rest, not yet. He needed warmth, and he needed food. He needed nature to stop messing with him. Stupid root.

He towered over the children by almost two full feet, but had trouble feeling more adult than them as he wiped icy residue off his face. He supposed he’d looked pretty miserable anyways as he’d dragged himself into the village, so a little bit more humiliation probably wasn’t going to hurt. Brushing himself off, he examined the gaggle of children around him. The girl who had helped him up was starting to look as if she’d rather be elsewhere (probably somewhere warm), though the other’s pressed in close now, curious and excited by the strangers.

“Hey mister,” the leader of the boys asked, tugging on his robe, “what are you doing wandering around in the snow for? Did you get lost?” He eyed him suspiciously; obviously wary of someone who was unmanly enough to trip on a hidden tree root.

“Yeah!” The others chimed in. “Where’d you come from?”

Kismet continued brushing the snow of his robe, wanting very much to head over to the smith’s forge. “I was not lost.” He said, measuring his words. “But I did not know where I was.”

Ah ha.

He hadn’t been sure that he’d be able to say that. There was only one rule that governed Kismet in his totality. “Thou shall not be untruthful to thy nature.” During the four short months between now and his creation, Kismet had come to understand that he was completely incapable of lying, seemingly a result of this edict. However, his probes on the nature of this law had been limited; the only person he’d ever spoken to was the strange masked man, and those had always been fairly one sided conversations. Talking to himself out in the wastes had been enlightening, but this was the first time he had spoken to others that were unaware of his nature.

The words had been deliberately confusing. He really hadn’t been lost. At least not in the sense the children were probably thinking of. It was somewhat regrettable that he’d decided to use his first actual conversation as an experiment, but it hardly mattered. He wouldn’t be sticking around here for long.

Done removing the snow from his clothes, he adjusted his li (the hat), and addressed the children. “Sorry guys, but I think girls are cooler. I didn’t make the rules, that’s just how it is.” The boys started to shout in protest, but he raised his arms to silence them. “I've hear, however, that they have cooties.” He conceded. “So I guess it evens out in the end.”

As the children erupted into another fierce debate, Kismet turned to the quite girl who had helped him up. “You look like you’re pretty cold. Why don’t you come join me by the fire?”

Not waiting for a response, Kismet began to move through the crowd of youngsters towards the blacksmith’s shack, eager to finally be tucked away from the elements.

[Angel]

Well, that worked out fine, Kaimu thought to herself while looking around at the kids.. obviously starting to settle down and disperse amongst themselves. A few of the girls were still eying her outfit strangely, but Kaimu wasn't honestly bothered by it. Not that she was bothered by anything, she just felt that attention was unnecessary and hurtful in moments and it was better to avoid it.

She followed the boy who claimed she had cooties, wondering what that could possibly be. The word didn't really settle in, and she didn't really have an understanding at the differences between male and female either. Sure, this body was functional.. and it felt like the body that belonged to the one named Kaimu, but she didn't have pride or negative thoughts about it either way and wasn't sure that such thought were worth her time anyway.

They entered the building she had looked in earlier, a muscular man in a muscle shirt and thin pants was still whacking at the hard metal with earnest. She took a bit to look around, the place was actually decently lit and looking well managed and clean, something you wouldn't expect from such an area. Was this some of the feminine touch from his wife influenced in his work, or was he just a clean individual who valued order? Researching wasn't really helpful though, but not learning things is a crime in of itself. However, lack of much knowledge on people was really getting in the way of that.. but she was a quick study. One thing was certain was that he got absorbed in his work, the entrance of two new people hadn't gone unnoticed. Around the room was some strange items that were slightly... "cute"? He had statuettes of soft and young angels around, and again she wondered if maybe this was his wife's collection or maybe he just had a fondness for cute things.

Nothing that says that a muscular man of steel can't appreciate an adorable angel. You can't judge a book by it's cover, after all.

But even with all of these thoughts, her attention was being split amongst the people that were offering her heat, the man who had she had helped.. and her own plans on what to do. She needed something, anything to help start making a path for herself. Something to set her mind on that would be attributing to the mission. To do that, she had to involve herself with others.. so she decided this was the best time to try to start.

So pulling off her sword and her then considering even taking off the armor, she set the sword down on an empty table and attempted to try to start the beginnings of a conversation. "Hello.." she said to the man she had helped up. "Thank you for help.." she said, bowing, though her dreamy and airy voice definitely gave her a "almost trace-sleep" type feel. "If there is some way I could be of assistance, it would pleasure me greatly." and then gave another bow, having stood up to meet his eyes with her own while finishing her words, eye contact an important nuance of conversation she had already learned.

And if he needed something, maybe even small.. or she could find something to do.. she could start learning what she was supposed to be doing with her life.

[Kismet]

“I think it’s me that should be doing that thanking.” Kismet said, smiling confusedly. He really wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve such a formal thanks, but it was a kind gesture nonetheless. “But thank you for the offer. Would you be able to tell me where I am, exactly?”

To be perfectly honest, Kismet was a little put off by the girl. The overt friendliness of such an offer was…strange. Especially when offered with that airy-fairy voice. This was shaping up to be Kismet’s first “real” conversation, but something in his swirling mismatched memories told him something was off, like the girl wasn’t quite used to speaking with others either. And then there was her odd appearance. Well, her age, rather. She looked awfully young to be dressed up in armor and lugging around a weapon.

Kismet moved further into the room and closer to the fire, still unnoticed by the blacksmith. The nature of his work was that of an all consuming task; the fire had to be managed perfectly, the correct temperature maintained, its oxygen flow stable and balanced, fuel constantly being fed into its flaming maw. While the flame burned and the iron hammered, nothing else existed. The smith’s work was the totality of his existence. Kismet wondered whether that was what he had been sent to this place to do. To find a purpose that would fill the entirety of his being.

The roar of the flames and the thunderous clanging of metal smothered the blacksmith’s hearing, and so Kismet and the girl’s conversation remained unheard. Which reminded Kismet. He couldn’t just keep calling his new companion “the girl.”

“But I’ve been forgetting my manners.” He said, turning back to face her. He opened his mouth to speak, but faltered, choking on his words. Surprised, he placed his hand on his throat and lowered his head, blocking the girl’s view of his face with his li.

He had been about to say “My name is Kismet.”

But that was untrue. Kismet was not his name. He had no name. Of course, that was a matter of semantics and interpretation, but Kismet didn’t buy it. Kismet was indeed a name in that it was the word by which he was identified, but that meant nothing to him. It felt like something that had been tacked on, a label rather than a name. The masked man had pulled him into existence, plopped him onto the earth without explanation or care, and taped the word to his forehead. A sticker to mark function. This is what you are. This is the task you are to perform.

Kismet was not concerned with what he was. He wanted to know who he was.

Clearing his throat, he looked up and smiled. “My apologies.” He said easily, sweeping the odd setback under the rug.

“I am called Kismet. What is your name?”

[Angel]

Kaimu, while listening to the man, was finishing taking her armor off. As soon as the heat got going, the metal would start to burn hot right against her skin so she knew it wasn't a good idea to be wearing it so close to a fire. He was an interesting fellow, that she could tell. He had rejected her offer of thanks out of some sort of pride of lack or reasoning in his mind for the action, but Kaimu was not the type to do such a thing. "Your most welcome, though to be honest I was hoping to come along with you and get some food and warmth after I saw you be offered some, so my motives were not completely honest." she said as she took the last piece off, now giving he the impression of any other young girl, however pale.

Every person reacted differently, it was something Kaimu was learning very fast from her short interaction with people. Something about this man, it made her want to try to be honest with him. If she showed a bit of honesty, maybe he would do the same.. and maybe he would learn a bit more. Learning was all Kaimu could do right now, observe and learn, observe and learn. Once she had done enough of that, she could find a purpose for being, or so she hoped.

"and..I.. don't have a name. I don't have parents or family, a home, a reason, anything. Nothing is what I am and I am simply.. Kaimu.." she said, bowing. Sure, this tongue that she used was an awkward one not often mixed with such a common tongue, but hopefully he would understand just refer to her as that. She glanced over at her sword and armor as she said this, their existence being the only thing that gave her any sort of claim to anything. Still, an armor and a sword unused was not enough to give her a purpose.

At this moment though, the woman from earlier walked in with a tray of warm meat and potatoes, along with a giant glass of some sorts. She scanned around and saw the group, and then walked over with a surprised look on her face. "Is this girl with you? I didn't realize.. I'll have to go get a another tray, excuse me!" she said, with a slight embarrassed reaction, though Kaimu couldn't see how the woman could have predicted that she would be here, what was there to be nervous about?

On her way out however, she looked back at the man still hammering away and called out to him. "Cliff honey, we have company! Don't be rude!" and left, supposedly to go get Kaimu some food. This reaction finally did make Cliff turn around, his dark brown hair beadng with sweat from flames. After looking over to the group and getting a good look at them, a smile appeared on his face, which quickly turned to full on laughter.

What was funny? Kaimu was confused here.. but the man just kept on laughing. He made a strange hand movement one might interpret as "hold on one minute" and then continued to laugh while finishing up the metal in the fire. Laughing and laughing. Kaimu could not understand for the life of her what could possibly be so funny.

Life was strange.

[Kismet]

Kismet was just as befuddled as Kaimu was over the causation of the man’s bellowing guffaws. And again, like Kaimu, Kismet wasn’t exactly the most experienced in the intricacies of social etiquette. His swirling multitudes of memories suddenly seemed rather limited, now that he found himself in a social situation where they might otherwise have proven useful. They were blanketed in a thick whirling fog of miasma, mortally decrepit with blotchy bits and pieces poking through here and there. It was just enough to get by. He could name virtually every object in the room, even though he himself had never actually seen them before. That was fire, a self perpetuating chemical reaction between a fuel source and atmospheric oxygen emitting light and heat. That was a chair. You sat in it. Kaimu was removing her armor, defensive garments used to protect the body (generally from melee weapons, as chemically powered projectile weapons rendered them ineffective), these seemingly made out of steel, a manmade composite metal refined from iron.

Actually, his memories seemed to contain quite a bit of information. It just wasn’t very prescriptive. Nor was it always readily available. Wandering in the wastes, the idea of a blacksmith would not even have been capable of crossing Kismet’s mind. But as soon as he had seen the rising smoke and heard the echoing clangs of steel, he knew what it was. It was as if he already knew everything about the world around him, but had forgotten it. Now, in the physical presence of the objects, he suddenly remembered what they were and how they worked. Perhaps the same would apply with people. He knew how to speak, after all; could respond to questions and make small talk with Kaimu fairly naturally.

Cliff, as he was apparently called, was still tidying up his forge as best he could in between hearty bursts of laughter, so Kismet politely held his hands behind his back and waited for him to finish in a cool, picturesque image of composure. Several seconds later, he realized that bobbing lightly on the balls of his feet would probably give away the fact that he was rather apprehensive.

Always the little things.

Tilting his head towards Kaimu (though not so far as to obscure his eyes with his li), Kismet murmured “It seems we have quite a bit in common. I don’t have either of those either.”

Before the conversation could continue any further, however, Cliff finished his work. “So,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Jill’s brought in another couple of strays to feed, eh?” Realizing he’d just smeared soot all over his face, Cliff lumbered over to a small basin of water and washed his hands and face. “Not a mean bone in her, that Jill.” He said, chuckling as he retrieved a startling pristine handkerchief from his pocket and dried himself off. “Which’d be why I married her, of course.”

Returning to the forge, Cliff pulled aside a sturdy chair and lowered himself into it, the entire floor seeming to creak with his descent. “But it really is funny that you’ve shown up now, of all times.” He continued, his smile becoming a little fixed. “What might you two have been doing there, out in the wastes, Kismet, Kaimu?”

Oh. So he’d known they were there the whole time. Awkward.

[Angel]

She turned to the man, the one called Cliff. Not Kismet, though Kismet was still on her mind. A good question he asked, a slightly hard one to find the answer to. Not because it was actually hard to answer, but because she wasn't sure how much truth was necessary in this moment. Should she play a role, should she wear a mask? Or should she be honest? At this point though.. she wasn't sure what she should be hiding from or if there was a reason to really hide. The biggest loss that could happen at this point would be the loss of warmth and food, and she had a feeling nothing she could say other than something hateful would cause the loss of this.

Would truth really be okay then, under the circumstances?

.. It might be worth the risk. To unlock that hidden self and open that door just a little.

"I am here because I have nothing." she said, with her same flat tone of voice as always. "I'm trying to find a reason, a purpose. A way to accomplish my dream. My dream of a peaceful world. All I have claim to is my sword and my shield, but I plan on using them as the tools of that dream. All my skills, all my being. I just want to find the first steps.. find a path.." she said, her voice slightly dying down. There was nothing more to say, but the silence that quickly followed to the words was a bit much for her to deal with. Such a risky move it was, those simple words. How would the people react? She had no way of truly predicting the response of strangers... and that inability to predict was almost unbearable even in those few moments.

But what Cliff did next was helped her quite a bit. He kinda rubbed his head awkwardly, as if it a bit uncomfortable. "Your young yet, of course you don't have a path for yourself." he said, shaking his head. Surely that wasn't all he could say to this girl was it? He was never the type who was good with his words, he expressed himself through his workings of metal and stone. His blades and his sculptures. "But. You have a good dream, and plenty of time to find your way. You'll find something I'm sure." he said, though saying that to this little girl was bit embarrassing for reasons he couldn't understand. Her words of peace were nice and all, but could one little frail thing really believe she could stop a worldwide amount of violence and power seeking? He almost wondered if he should let her down easy right now, but he wasn't the girls father. It wasn't his place.

But even with Cliff's good response, she had said it more for the other mysterious person, the person who had her interest. How would he respond?

[Kismet]

Who was this girl? Kismet wondered, tensing. He tilted his head downwards to her, keeping his face lax. How was it that he should come across such a child that would say these things? Just now, as he himself stumbled blind out into the world grasping clumsily for a purpose, for an existence? He barely noticed Cliff’s surprisingly delicate response, his mind swirling in confusion. Was this meeting meant to take place? Was this fate?

Was this Kismet?

"But.” Cliff said, cutting across Kismet’s thoughts. “You have a good dream, and plenty of time to find your way. You'll find something I'm sure."

No.

This was not destiny. And if it was, Kismet would break free of its shackles. He was not some tool to be manipulated, some substance to be hammered and warped out into some shape. In his mind, the flowing robes of the masked man bled into existence, emanating from Cliff like some terrible shadow. With a laugh, he lifted up the blacksmith’s hammer, eying its dull luster in the flickering flames. The steel head seemed to glow red in the light, shimmering with the reflected heat of the blaze, its design dancing across its bruised metal sides. And then with a horrific clang, he brought it down, striking the red hot iron, sparks exploding from the blow.

The others did not react. They could not see the silent specter behind Cliff. Could not hear him.

The ringing echo of the hammer strike reverberated through Kismet’s ears as Cliff and Kaimu turned their attention to him, waiting for his response. For him to explain why he was there.

“I thought I had nothing, wandering out there in the snow.” He said quietly, his head bowed in thought. “I was searching for something, a path to follow. I was looking for something to live for.” He raised his head, looking into the fire. “I thought if I kept walking, kept going forward, I would find it. As if it was just buried in the snow, as if it were just laying there, waiting for me to stumble upon it.” Kismet’s hands, held behind his back, tightened.

“The snow blinded me. There is no path just laying there, just waiting to be found.” He turned, staring into the dark eye holes of the phantom’s mask, the ghostly vision that plagued him. His voice rose in volume, conviction filling him. “I have to make that path myself, with my own hands. I have to forge my own destiny, and I have everything I need to do it.”

The glimmering mask did not move, but the dancing lightshow of fire cast flickering shapes and shadows across its surface. For a moment, it looked as if the masked man smiled.

And then he was gone.

[Angel]

...

Kaimu didn't know how to react to whatever Kismet just said. Seemed to be slightly put off with whatever she had said, which wasn't exactly the the dream situation. She sat down at the table that Cliff was at, the table she had laid down her armor. No words seem to fill the air for a while, it seems as if everyone was still struggling to find a way to respond to everything that was going on.

The woman who had left to bring food came back with a smile on her face, but the second she walked in she too was enveloped in the sense that something in the air was seemingly ripping the voices out of the air. She laid down the food on the table, smiled at the guests then walked out as quickly as she had entered, probably to watch over her own children and to escape the tense situation.

Kaimu was the one who finally found a way to break the silence. Well, more, she found the words that had been swirling around in her head. Looking down at the food, a sort of delicious looking curry-type dish she started speaking, directing her thoughts obviously to Kismet in particular though she chose not to look at him. "Must be nice and all, having a grasp on your own skills. Finding some sort of realization on how to better achieve your own goals. I still have nothing." she took a pause, eating a bite of the warm meal. Feeling it's life enter her, giving her enough of a stomach to finish her speech. "Unlike you, I can't just sit around with the happy feeling that my goal is obtainable by everything I have now. To achieve my purpose, I have to become involved in everything. I have to find a way to make a mark, find a way to gain footing. I have to become apart of something bigger than myself. And to do that, I have to find something bigger than myself. I do have to keep walking to find my path because I won't just find it sitting around."

Kaimu didn't think about how these words would effect this time. She barely noticed Cliff's existence, and he was surprisingly quiet.. as if he was still looking for something to say. And then the person who had her interest obviously did not return that interest. The child's voice in all it's light and youthful intelligence would most likely be ignored for the most part. At least, that was all she could predict based on the data that was available. At least she had gotten the warm food and shelter. It would be enough fuel to keep looking for something that was interested in her.

[Kismet]

Oh. But he’d killed the mood, hadn’t he?

Kismet covered his eye and massaged his temple, trying to dispel the after image of the strange hallucination. “I’m sorry.” He said wearily, turning to his food. “The shadows reminded me of something unpleasant.”

He began to eat in slow, measured bites, trying not to simply scarf it down and appease his gnawing hunger. It wouldn’t do to simply vomit the much needed sustenance back up. Not any good for him and not any good for the people going out of their way to help him.

“But Cliff is right, Kaimu.” He said between bites. “You’ll find what it is you’re looking for. I’m not so foolish to think that I can attain anything I want right now. I’m going to have to struggle and work and learn before I reach my goals, just as you will. But we both have everything we need to start that journey.” He looked up from his food suddenly, turning to Cliff, smiling pleasantly. “This is delicious by the way. Thank you very much for you and your wife’s hospitality.”

He then returned to his food, his li once again obstructing his face. He supposed he ought to be more concerned over the sudden reappearance of the masked man. Or rather, he ought to be more concerned that he was having hallucinations of him. But for some reason, he felt as though nothing was wrong. It was not as if he thought such visions were normal, on the contrary. His swirling hodgepodge of memories told him quite clearly that this situation elicited concern. It was just that this vision felt right. Like it was a part of who Kismet was. He had been created by the masked man in black, and he carried a piece of him with him.

For better or for worse.

Still, whether he admitted it or not, he and Kaimu were in roughly the same boat. They both seemingly had nothing, but that in itself could be a blessing. Any path they chose would be entirely their own, to succeed or fail in by their own merits and deficiencies. In authoring their own stories, perhaps they would learn something. Maybe.

Despite his attempts to measure his eating, the food disappeared exceptionally quickly. Too quickly, Kismet’s growling stomach complained, but it would do. Wiping his mouth with the small napkin he’d been given, he turned back to the girl.

“So,” he began, “do you have any idea where you might find this path? Where it might take you?”

[Angel]

Kaimu was well, the closest word that could be used was surprised.. but it was just in a sense the fact that her words had actually been listened to was not was what she was expecting. She made note that she shouldn't judge on so little information in the future, another lesson the newborn Kaimu was learning. She would try to predict less and react more.

She.. smiled. It was something she had noticed other people doing, and thought she would try it out. But it looked really awkward on her face, a forced smile was what it was and what it looked like. She didn't understand what a forced smile was though, and she barely understood what a smile was. She just seemed to think it was something that others do to put other people around them at ease. Which was what she was doing. She didn't really understand the concept that there was an emotion that was put behind it.. and it didn't do well to help her in her case. But she honestly meant well.

"No.. I don't. But I'm hoping to find something, anything I can be involved in. Even small, I would just want to find something I can word towards.. find a small step. Someone to help. Anything." Kaimu said, taking the last polite. small bites of her curry. She ate like a good mannered lady and really looked like one now that her armor was off. "What about you? What brought you to this land of snow and cold? You seemed interesting to me since I first saw you, and I admit that I helped you for that reason as well." she said, trying again to be honest.. but it was starting to feel like something she shouldn't be doing. Why was she letting someone in like this, why was she trusting a complete stranger with such information that could prove to be used against her someday? And why was Cliff being so quiet? Was he overly thinking about something.. he seemed as if he had something to say but couldn't quite find the words to say it yet.

Everything was so confusing and awkward.. there had to be something Kaimu could do to help make things more peaceful. Relaxed. Maybe it was her own words and actions that were too strange or causing distress.. maybe she needed to act more like she appeared to be. It stunk.. not being sure. There being so many things that could be wrong. Why couldn't the answer just come to her easily?

[Kismet]

Hmm. What had he been doing out there in the wastes? Wandering around, mostly.

Like the swirling flurries, his memories seemed to flit away from his grasp, maddeningly elusive. He remembered the masked man sending him off into the void, a billowing cloud of black robes against the white snow. It was like there was some gaping crack in reality, with that shining silver mask staring out from beyond. He had no idea how they had gotten there, or where the masked man had disappeared to. The whiteness had just seemed to close in around him, blotting him out from the world and leaving Kismet alone.

Kaimu was smiling expectantly at him, if that could be called smiling. It was more of a frozen grimace than anything else, and Kismet could sense no emotion behind it. “A” for effort though.

“Well,” he said, placing his now empty plate on the work bench. “I was just trying to survive. My…former caregiver…dropped me off out there.” He looked to the window, staring at the pasty white light filtering in. Former caregiver indeed. Kismet wondered how he might better describe his relationship to the masked man. He was his creator, for one. But Kismet didn’t think that now would be quite the right time to divulge that information. As little as he knew about the world, he knew that that was an oddity. He was reluctant to call his send off an abandonment, though after wandering around for three days without food, it had started to feel like it. But that didn’t feel right. More like setting releasing some specimen into the wild so that it might be observed. Kismet was unsure which interpretation he’d prefer.

His thoughts were disrupted, however, by the tolling of the church bell. Immediately, Cliff straightened in his seat, an alert, poised look entering his eyes.

“Stay here.” He said calmly, standing up from his chair and moving for the door. He opened it just in time to see his wife arrive, a worried look on her face.

“Cliff, dear, they’re…” she began, trailing off as she spotted Kismet and Kaimu behind her husband.

“I know.” He responded grimly. The sound of neighing horses and the thundering of hooves could be heard in the distance. “Stay in the house with the children.” He placed a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and she placed her own hand atop his. Then, she turned and strode quickly off towards her house. Cliff turned back towards his beggar guests, his eyes sharp.

“Do not go outside until I return for you. Stay away from the windows. Do not open the door for anyone.” With that, he stepped outside and closed the door. Kismet heard the heavy clicking of keys and a bolt sliding into place. And then there was silence. Silence, except for the distant rumbling of hooves.

[Angel]

As Cliff left the room, he found himself in a town that was silent in nature. For what he was expecting, this was a huge shock on it's own. He thought he would be seeing things on fire, hearing people screaming. Everything was deathly silent, as if the town had undergone a ghostly transformation. Suddenly though, a carriage pulled by horses approached and a man leapt out, put a hand placed on Cliff's shoulder ushered the man back inside the shop with Kismet and Kaimu inside.

A man had been the one who had lead him back inside the warm building, a rich looking man with a mustache that looked as if he could be one of a noble lineage of sorts. He looked upset, and as if he was in a great rush. "Cliff, it's worst than we would have thought. We were foolish and thought we were prepared for them, but we weren't prepared for this." he said, barely noticing the other people in the room.. and obviously not caring if they heard.

"The Northland Bandits actually managed too.. what are you talking about?" The quiet Cliff asked of him, obviously distressed. He pounded the table in which Kaimu's armor still lay which ended up bouncing slightly on it making a much louder noise than probably was intended. The richer gentleman placed his hand on Cliff's shoulder.

"Settle down for a moment. We won't be able to properly plan with you letting out the fire in such a manner. A good majority to the town's children have been.. kidnapped." he said, looking down as he said the last few words. Despite the man's pleading, Cliff once again pounded the table, which caused Kaimu's helm of sorts to fall on the floor with a even louder clang. Kaimu's mind however, wandered to the pack of children that they had just left. Were those the children he was referring to?

"Grossam! How could the guard let this happen!?" he cried out.

Grossam explained as best he could. It seemed as if the town had been prepared for the Northland Bandits for sometime, rumors of them heading here had been told for the last few weeks, they were pillaging all the villages of all their food, wealth, any other sort of expensive material and even most of the women. The snow had slowed them down, but with the break the entire town had been on edge. This had been why the children had been so heavily guarded by the parents earlier.

But the Bandits had managed a more stealthy approach then they had been shown in the past, obviously they had more than just the normal brutes with them. They had gotten in the town and managed to get a hold of the majority of the children, leading them to the corner of the town to an abandoned warehouse for stocking supplies.

"They are holding the children as a sort of ransom.." he explained. "They want no open acts of violence towards themselves and no resistance into giving them what they want, or they promise to started murdering them off. If someone approaches the warehouse, they will do the same."

Cliff was speechless. "Isn't there anything we can do?" he said, his pounding had ceased, due to the fact that he realized they should be even doing this in a sort of whisper, just in case the bandits managed to reach this point in the middle of town faster than he would have thought.

"We aren't sure. If there was only a way we could reclaim the children.. but even then, we aren't sure we have enough men to combat the mass of numbers they have. We thought the snow would empty them out a bit, but they managed to keep it up pretty well.." he said. "As far as I know.. " he said, actually pointing to Kaimu, acknowledging their existence. "That is the last safe child left in town." Grossam seemed hopeless when he said it, as if he felt there was nothing they could do either. His eyes were wandering until they reached Kismet now.. and spoke to him as calmly as he could. "I'm sure you just heard what is going on, traveler. If you can take your sister or daughter and make a sort of hasty retreat, we wouldn't blame you. We are afraid that we can't offer any safe hospitality from the weather any longer."

Kaimu wasn't interested in that though, she realized something.. something dramatic had just been presented to her. A violent situation that required a peaceful outcome. Kaimu wanted to give that outcome to this place.. and the place had given her shelter. She looked over at Kismet and said to him. "But we will stay and help, right? I'm sure you must have come up with a plan already." she said, though she wasn't sure why she had said it. Maybe because Kismet gave off the impression that he was always two steps ahead.

OOC: Image of Grossam because why not.