Colin's posts

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.

@totalanimefan: Healthy way to do it!

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.

The brothers looked towards Hazel, and Ash sighed.

"I suppose we can try the last approach." he said. "THAT seemed to work." he stated.

"And that was?" Lindsay asked.

"Miss Syraene showed up and cleared her." Ash responded.

"...yes. Yes, that WOULD work nicely." Lindsay agreed, before looking over towards Azari.

"And what of... HIM?" he inquired.

Ash almost swatted her away when she nipped his ear, but restrained himself, and merely put distance between them, slowly backing up, and more towards Lindsay and Hazel. He then stopped and looked at the former.

"...Lindsay?" he asked.

"Brother." Lindsay replied with a smile.

"What...?" Ash started to ask, before Lindsay raised a hand.

"Let's concern ourselves with more immediate matters first." he suggested. "There will be plenty of time for questions and answers later." he finished, looking at Rowena and the phoenix.

@sorrowthemad: ...wow. Lotta red flags there. Yeah, best to tread very carefully into this territory, I agree.

All this was a little overwhelming for Ash... so much so, he still hadn't fully realised Hazel was back... and that she had his brother in tow. All he could do was try and take it all in, and worry about his mother.

Meanwhile, Lindsay had, indeed, died, and sure enough, mere seconds later, he was reborn from his own remains, looking like nothing had happened. Though he did look to be in discomfort.

However, he shook his head a little, looked at the woman, and nodded.

He knew what she wanted.

"...I'm sorry." he apologised, gently taking her by the head, and doing the same to her, that she had done to him.