Encounter In The Misty Wards

JP with Cindy and Lorem

Islana debated on where to start as she would rather save the Friar for last, if the man was even in this area at the moment. She needed to be discreet in her asking.

Starting at the other end from where she started, Islana decided to see if anyone walking around caught her interest to ask. If that turned out to not be much of an option, she would knock on a few doors. Hopefully, someone would have knowledge of what she was inquiring about.

Gonyaul was on route from the apothecary store back to the farm. He was cutting across Suncross Plaza and then the docks in order to save on time. He noticed his new attire was causing a few more people to notice him; whereby, normally he could traverse that part of town without so much as a glance.

Then it happened again, along the edge of the docks and the misty ward. His peripheral vision that he saw a lady with fire trailing from her head. This time when he quickly turned his head he did indeed see a live person entering the Misty Ward part of town. It wasn’t just a figment of his imagination.

Her auburn ponytail was like an exclamation point trailing behind her and the red hues ignited his overactive imagination and memories of summertime, places that kept the marvels of nature. Gonyaul was like a moth to flames, slowly following due to curiosity.

And suddenly he found himself in the Misty Ward, a place he had always strived to actively avoid. Out of all the places in town this area felt like the most risky for him to be. Yet, here he was. He paused, not comfortable with going any further. Yet he continued to daydream, thinking to himself: if a beam of light could weave itself into a strand, that was this stranger's hair. It seemed to glow from within rather than relying on the sunshine. It was as if nature conjured life from a ripple of radiance. It was a girl on fire.

Islana had met very few people in the street and the ones she had did not seem like they would know the answer to her questions. She was about to start the task of knocking on doors when her green eyes spotted someone. Something, maybe it was his look or just instinct but something told her to ask the man.

She crossed the road making her way to the man, whom was not familiar to Islana. Her walk was of moderate speed, not so fast it would seem suspicious but not slow.

Islana reached the man, putting etiquette forward, "Sir, excuse me but do you perhaps have a moment that I might ask you a question?"

He had been spotted. He was in the Misty Ward and someone was actually acknowledging his presence. He took one step backwards as she approached, but just one. It looked harmless however, it was actually a very intentional placement that would easily transition into a stance that could provide strategic movement.

Gonyaul smiled cordially, nodded, and his accent rolled off his tongue. “Yes”

Islana nodded, he seemed approachable enough for what she needed. She could not place the accent but that did not matter so much. Taking the paper that has the drawing of the thing she has retrieved from the trees and the runes, Islana unrolled it, letting the man see it.

Islana spoke, "Do you know anything about either of these items?"

Gonyaul was glancing at the piece of parchment, that she was unrolling, with the inquisitive nature of a child opening a present. His face immediately grimaced and his upper body shifted ever so slightly away from the drawings. His reaction was noticeable to anyone that was even half observant.

Gonyaul looked from the piece of parchment to her emerald eyes. He wasn’t hiding his thoughts at all due to his surprise. Why would she have pictures of those things? Was this a trick? Was he in trouble? He realized he was just a tad late in responding. “Yes”. His gaze took a quick sweep of their surrounding environment as he spoke before coming to rest once more at her eyes.

The moment his response hit the open air, he regretted not finding out more information about this stranger's motives first.

Islana honestly had thought finding anyone that not only knew about the items she had drawn but admitted it would be an almost impossible task but his body language gave the man away before his words did.

It was then she noticed him a little more; he looked like no one she had seen before. He was quite a bit taller than her though many were. His hair and eyes were as dark as night and she could not place the coloration of his skin. It was his skin and the patterns on it that really made him stand out. Islana though was not one to be concerned with what one looked like; the heart of the person was far more important to her.

When he responded, yes, Islana let out a breath which she had not even realized she was holding.

"I was in the woods, yesterday where I came across them." Not wanting to say too much here, she then just asked. "Would you be willing to go someplace and discuss what you know of these things? Maybe, someplace no one will care enough to listen in on our conversation."

Gonyaul gently tilted his head to orient his right ear closer to the direction of her speech. It was a subtle gesture that showed he might not be completely fluent and was trying to process everything she just said. He caught almost every word and was able to fill in the gaps for those few he missed.

The woman seemed genuine and trustworthy, but he’d been fooled before. The offer to vacate the Misty Ward sooner than later was too advantageous to pass up. Perhaps he could better discern if he should keep this conversation going while they were on the move.

Gonyaul agreed, a slight hitch in his tone exposed that he was uncomfortable staying where they were presently. “Please, different place.” He didn’t completely agree yet, but he didn’t say no either.

Gonyaul suddenly remembered in the back of his mind about his earlier words regarding ‘winds of change’. This unexpected turn of events felt like change was about to blow his way. He had made a promise to ‘open wide and unashamedly breathe deep the loving air’ should change come his way. The Vauxian, though he knew nothing of this stranger, made a resolute and unconditional decision right then and there that she was unequivocally important. Nature brought this his way and when nature speaks, you listen.

Islana nodded, the man clearly seemed uncomfortable in their current surroundings. Islana simply started walking so he could follow or walk with her.

Once the Misty Ward was behind them she stopped and asked, "Would you be comfortable discussing this at the Drunken Hare or is there someplace else you would like to go?"

Being a pub the Drunken Hare was full of people who did not care what others were discussing.

Gonyaul followed after her and did a double step to catch up beside her. He was thankful to be out of that area and putting more distance still.

He wasn’t comfortable with the Drunken Hare. He had never been in there before for a variety of reasons. He shook his head no, and came up with a better place in his opinion for discussing this sensitive topic. Getting her attention, Gonyaul began taking a few paces in the direction of the farm he works on. He stopped and reached out a hand to her. It wasn’t for her to necessarily take, but a gesture for her to please follow.

“Better place,” he paused and smiled, “Do you trust me?”

His countenance glowed with innocence. He seemed to completely lack the skill of beguile and every tell tale mannerism came across as genuine.

The man seemed to do what she had not seen in a long time, his very essence seemed to be one of innocence. It was a strange feeling as Islana trusted no one completely and especially those whom she had just met but she felt no danger from the man either. In her 19 years of living despite her travels Islana had never met anyone like the man before her. So, while the question of her trusting him was far too big of an ask for the young woman, for the moment, she saw no reason to not go with him.

Islana seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment, "I will go with you."

Gonyaul beamed encouragingly and beckoned kindly for her to follow. He took a rather brisk pace, but was considerate that his legs were longer so he slowed it down a little. Whenever she would fall a pace or two behind, due to an environmental obstacle, he would glance back to make sure everything was still ok.

He was an alert as they walked, being highly situational aware. He had never once been seen walking in the company of another since arriving and he wanted to be mindful in case it drew questions from onlookers that were looking to cause trouble.

There were no incidents though on route, and they made it easily to the edge of the farm where his humble shelter was. He gestures for her to take a seat if she would like and busied himself to try and show at least some hospitality. Gonyaul brought her a small plate with an apple, a few nuts and sliced cucumber. In addition, he retrieved water from a small well he constructed and poured it into a glass for her. He didn’t hand either item to her but placed them next to her, just in case she wanted them. He then stopped, seeing as he thought his guest was not comfortable.

“What would you like to know?” He rebooted their earlier conversation. He spoke slower so that his tongue wasn’t tripping all over itself forming the words.