Colin's posts

The redhead looked away when she said that to the blonde, looking sheepish and ashamed.

"I... no, no, I'm not." he stated. "My brother does really well in finding food and stuff for us. For me." he told her further. But before she could respond, his brother spoke up.

"...no. I don't." he stated.

"We're lucky if we eat every other day." he said. "And I know we never have enough for the both of us." he went on.

"But you always give more food to me!" the blonde insisted.

"And regardless... it's not enough. I'M not good enough." his brother lamented.

Both of the boys were... honestly, stunned at this point. They were not used to hearing something like that. They exchanged glances at each other, with the redhead still looking skeptical.

"...please?" the blonde asked quietly. "Please... let's trust her." he said further. "She seems really nice." he added.

The redhead was silent upon hearing that, before shaking his head.

"...all right." he responded. "All right, let's... give this a shot." he agreed, before looking back at the woman.

"And I look really thin?" he asked her, clearly a little on the oblivious side about his own health.

The boys looked quite surprised to hear that, but while the redhead accepted the smaller article of clothing, the blonde looked... relieved. Happy, even. Like a bit of a massive weight was lifted off his shoulders, even if temporarily.

He then looked at the redhead, and used his elbow to nudge him in the ribs, lightly.

"Ah!" the redhead exclaimed lightly, as he looked back, and his brother shot him a small look.

"Oh." he said, looking towards the woman again. "Thank you..." he said quietly, removing the larger shirt and putting on the smaller one, it fitting him MUCH better than the previous.

"These are really comfortable." the blonde told her.

"Yes... yes, they really are." the redhead agreed.

The two boys didn't really say anything in response, and just stepped further back into where she had told them to. Once they were out of sight, they took off the scraps that were posing as their old clothing, and let them fall to the ground. The woman looked at the clothing as it fell... and immediately, she could tell that it was only a matter of days before large portions would have been falling off, to the point where it would have been indecent exposure if they'd kept going with them. It was that bad, and they'd been THAT desperate for clothing.

They put on the new clothing, and while it fit the blonde-haired one quite well, the woman could see that it was a smidgen big on the red-haired boy. But then again, the blonde boy looked like he had a broader build than his brother, while the other definitely looked more petit. The clothing wasn't swimming on him, but she could tell it was maybe a size too big.

The blonde was the one that spoke next, looking at her.

"Th... thank you..." he said quietly.

"What are we doing to repay this kindness?" he asked her, as the red-haired brother slightly, but noticeably (for her, anyway) stepped forward a little, and shuffled a smidgen towards his brother. And she could see what he was doing.

He was subtly getting into a position where he could defend and protect his brother if need be.

The blonde-haired one accepted the clothing readily, while the red-haired one looked skeptical as all get-out... but still accepted them. He looked at her questioningly for a few more seconds, before looking at the clothing again.

"...secrets..." he said quietly.

"I can only assume that... yours has to do with..." he went on, but trailed off and merely looked around at the seemingly countless spiders that surrounded him still... though they backed off a little more.

"Thank you." the blonde then quickly interjected, fearing this talk about 'secrets' would lead to some very uncomfortable questions from the woman. And he didn't want them to be rude to her right now, considering what she was doing for them.

"But... but why?" he then asked.

"Why are you being so nice to us when we tried to steal from you?" he asked her, as he slowly moved towards his brother, and started to slowly usher him to the back, where the woman had gestured for them to go.

The red-haired one paused for a moment, looking around at the spiders that surrounded him, and then looking back towards the woman. He was silent, still, and appeared to be weighing his options... whatever they would have been.

However, in the end, he chose to accept her hand, and when he did so, she helped him to his feet, and the spiders retreated a little.

"...right..." he then said.

"I'll go, now." he told her.

"I assume you'll be telling the rest of the merchants about this now." he then said further, before biting his bottom lip.

'Well, you'll not see us again, I promise." he finished, his tone showing that he hoped this would be the end of it... but that he was expecting some very negative consequences.

The red-haired individual looked over towards the woman, meeting her eye to eye, and seemed like a deer caught in bright lights for about 4-5 seconds. He said nothing in response, didn't even make a sound, before suddenly turning to bolt. However, he then noticed that he was absolutely SURROUNDED by spiders, which caused him to falter and fall back on his ass.

The spiders rapidly moved out of the way so as not to be crushed, but as soon as he was on his ass, they closed in once more, surrounding him even more now.

"No!" the blonde-haired one exclaimed.

"Please!" he said to the lady. "He was just trying to provide for us! For me!" he told her.

"We'll leave right now and never bother you again! I promise!" he pleaded, sounding near tears.

Meanwhile, as she sat there, sewing and working on her next piece, two pairs of eyes watched her from a nearby alley. They were hiding behind a large stack of trash, and were specifically eyeing where she kept the money that people were giving her, as well as the stacks of neatly-folded clothing she had behind her. One of them had a very predatory look to them, while the other looked... more apprehensive and nervous.

They were a pair of young boys, looked to be brothers. Twins, even. One of them had blonde hair, while the other had red hair with blonde streaks. And both looked... like they had experienced hardships in their lives already, as was evidenced by their tattered and holey clothing, looking like it was barely keeping itself together.

"...are you sure about this?" the blonde-haired one asked. "She seems really nice. And she's just trying to make a living. Is this right?" he asked further, which resulted in a bit of a derisive snort from the other one.

"You're so naïve." he responded. "I'm sure most of these people are nice, but they're making a good living off of this. They won't miss a little here and there. We get to eat another day, they still have their riches and can go back to their homes, it's a victimless crime. Plus, the colder weather is coming, and we NEED something to wear. Her stuff looks like it'll last us for at LEAST half a year. She'll be fine. She won't even notice that some of her wares are gone." he stated further, causing the first brother to bristle a little... but he then just sighed.

"I don't like your reasoning." he told him bluntly. "Sounds like nothing more than rationalisation for something already planned, but at the same time, I can't argue with the fact that we need this." he went on. "But does it have to be HER?" he then inquired. "Can't we just find a merchant that's rude or off-putting?' he asked his brother further.

"If we target them too much, they'll catch onto us, and it'll just make things harder." he stated. "Now stop with all this moral high-ground malarkey that won't get us fed today, and clothed for the next few months, and let's get a move on!" he barked.

The first one sighed heavily, and then nodded, as the two stepped out of the alley. The red-haired one snuck off to the side, sticking to shadows and blending into the crowd, as the blonde-haired one meekly approached the woman from the front.

"Um... e-excuse me? Ma'am?" he addressed her, looking up at her.

Ash just grinned. Widely.

"With pleasure." he said, leaving the room.

Lindsay watched him go, and then shook his head.

"I truly wish it did not have to end with this." he said. "Surely there is some good in him?" he asked. Zeria just looked at him in such a way that caused him to sigh deeply.

"...I understand." he responded.

"It is good to see you again, though, Miss Zeria." he then said.

"...hmph." Ash scoffed.

"Dark elves are impossible to kill. Wood elves? Hardly." he said.

"I'll do it." he said further, cracking his knuckles.

"Can we not just turn him into the proper authorities?" Lindsay asked.

"I say take no chances." Ash responded darkly.

Ash seemed dumbfounded for a moment.

"In English." he told his brother.

"She's the phoenix whose DNA is fused with mine." Lindsay truncated. "She managed to escape shortly after, but sadly, they got what they wanted from her." he lamented.

"And I am the result of that." he finished.

"...oh." Ash mumbled.

"I... wow." he then stated, shaking his head.

"Vanessa and them really don't care how many laws of nature, mages, and non-humans they break." he muttered further.

"...I see." Ash responded.

"Well... allow me to make an assumption now." he stated.

"You are Mom's... familiar." he stated. "She said she had one that was a phoenix, and given that you turned into a bird, and you were reborn from your own ashes... quickly... I can only assume you ARE a phoenix." he went on.

"And you seem close with Mom." he continued.

"So, am I right?" he asked.

Ash was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"Already things are spinning in my mind, and already I have my ideas." he said.

"But... I'm not going to make assumptions." he went on.

"So let's go with the obvious first." he stated, taking a small breath.

"Who ARE you, exactly?" he asked.

Lindsay and Ash nodded.

"Right." Lindsay said.

"And I'll... try and get in contact with Miss Syraene." Ash told her. "Admittedly, I'm not in direct contact with her, but... I'll try to get her here as soon as possible." he went on.

"And she'll hopefully be able to help Hazel again." he said further.

"She's only one of two that CAN." Lindsay sighed.