Fires of Faith (Private, Larcs Only)

[Shina Nihilo]

The steady roar of a 1,299 cc, 4-stroke engine and the rush of the wind filled her ears as she wound up the curving mountain road, mounted on a stock sport motorcycle. The road was, thankfully, paved with flat, gray cobblestones. They didn't help too much with traction, but it was certainly better than riding on dirt. Sounds were muffled by her helmet, which fully enclosed her head, and a bright white star of sunlight reflected off the opaque visor. Even in this chilly Autumn weather, she found herself sweating profusely under the helmet. Leaves sitting on the road were sent dancing in the air, tossed up by her wake.

She was dressed in her usual attire: full black leather from the neck down. The jacket was bulky, making it seem as if she were flat-chested, and was adorned with various metal studs and plating. The shoulders were padded, studded, and displayed a white skull graphic. Her trousers were glossy leather jeans, also armored beyond what was considered reasonable. A steel chain rested on her left hip. Her boots, more of the same. And then there were her gloves. At a glance, they matched the rest of the ensemble perfectly. Black leather, covered with bright red plating and steel studs. But these gloves were special, magic in nature. Not even she knew the why or how of it. And of course there was the helmet; black plastic, with a solid visor and a skull printed on the front. An olive drab pack was also strapped to her back Put together, the whole getup made her look like a boy. A very skinny boy, but a boy. The fact that she looked like the average biker thug probably lent some credence to that assumption. The motorcycle was a beauty: a chassis that was curvaceous and aerodynamic, painted tornado red, brand new tires, and a black leather seat. Fast and comfortable.

She rounded another curve and hit a long stretch, flanked by trees on either side. Ahead of her, just over the next slope, was her destination: Clover Town. From this distance, it looked like a huddled mass of white houses with brown roofs. But as she drew closer, the mass seemed to spread out before her eyes, become less squished together and much more wide. The sheer enormity of what she had been told was a "small village in the mountains" didn't truly hit her until she stopped just outside arched gateway which welcomed travelers into the town proper. She simply sat there, the engine of her bike purring gently, her jaw hanging as low as her helmet would allow. This was what people considered to be a "small town"? She couldn't wait to see what they considered to be a city, then. Wrapping her fingers around the handlebars, her leather gloves creaking, she revved the motorcycle up and began to slowly move down the main drag.

As she coasted down Clover Town's main street, her eyes scanned the buildings she passed by for signs of any of them being a place where she could stay the night. She had enough money on her for at least a couple nights, though she wasn't entirely sure that she would be staying in Clover for longer than three days. Eventually, she spotted an inn and pulled up in front of it. Killing the engine, she dismounted her motorcycle, pushed up the visor of her helmet, which revealed her dark brown eyes, and stepped inside the establishment.

Her nose was assaulted by a sour stench which immediately repulsed her. It was enough to make her seriously consider turning right back around and looking for some other place to hang her hat. But logic dictated that most establishments of this nature would smell this badly, so it didn't take much for her to convince herself that she should tough it out. Ignoring the stares of the patrons, she approached the bar and rapped on it sharply with the knuckles of her hand. This drew the attention of the bartender, a burly man with a receding hairline and 5 o'clock shadow. "Yeah?" he asked, his voice a gravely baritone. She cleared her throat, so that she would be heard clearly. "Could I get a room, please?" she asked. The helmet muffled her voice, making it sound more boyish, which helped to keep up appearances. The bartender grunted and pointed to a book laid out at the end of the bar. "Sign the register. Goin' rate is ten Jewels a night." he stated. She nodded, walking over to the registry book and picking up the pen which laid on top of it. She signed her name in scratchy print; "Shina Nihilo". The bartender looked at her scrawl, then reached under the bar and handed her a key. In exchange, Shina handed him ten Jewels. "Rooms're upstairs." he grunted out, nodding his head towards the stairs to her left. She mumbled a thank you and made her way upstairs.

The room was somewhat cramped, windowless, and only had a single bed, a small round table, and a chair. Shina immediately took off her helmet, her brown hair tumbling down to her neck. She dropped the headgear into the chair, then shrugged off her pack and let it drop to the floor. She took a brief moment to test the bed. It was soft, with the right amount of bounce to it. So that was something. Satisfied, she rose to her feet and left the inn to go for a walk.

And so Shina found herself going down Clover Town's main street again, eyes darting this way and that, wide with wonder. Her boot heels clocked loudly against the pavement at a steady beat, her leather clothes creaking with each movement. Her odd mode of dress earned her no small amount of raised eyebrows and curious glances, but she paid them no mind. She was simply too engrossed in looking at her surroundings. She was so distracted, in fact, that she bumped into somebody who had been walking in front of her, and tumbled to the ground with a loud thump.

[Guest]

The day was pleasant though it was chilly. Though fall had just barely started, plenty of leaves had already fallen, tell tale signs of a long and miserable winter. Though not too many people looked at this comfortable weather in such a gloomy way, the children were out playing, the streets were full for the small town up in the mountainside with people doing their own things.  Silently down from the forest path that lead up to where the town’s guild, Blue Pegasus, had their guild hall, walked a small stature woman clad in a black dress. The woman’s white haired was straight and she walked briskly and took no notice of her surroundings.

The people of the town knew this person well, she was the nun that Blue Pegasus had taken in during the war. To the people she was a nice person, though they often realized she had no idea what she was doing. Often they would see her travel to the church in town to pray. So as she started to walk into the streets most people did not take notice as she walked.

Her strides were long and purposeful, as today the nun, whom was called Larcs, was heading off to the church to seek guidance for the week. This was something of a routine thing that Larcs had started upon coming to Clover, when she had been saved from the destruction of Era. She did this mostly because in the church she felt slightly more at home, but honest she did not wish to join that church as a full time nun there. She wanted to rebuild her home, and she knew that someday she would be able to, though she needed protection in order to do so. This protection was her guild, Blue Pegasus.

Walking with purpose, she did not notice that someone was walking in the other direction as she was crossing one of the streets. Suddenly the person bumped into her, which caused Larcs to let out a startled gasp. She caught herself from falling over, and she turned to the person whom she had bumped into. The girl, that seemed to be around her own age, had fallen down. Larcs took note of the peculiar choice of attire, the black leather suit dotted with metal studs here and there, and she determined this person must be a traveler, or someone new to the town for she had not seen someone wear such a outfit before.

Larcs, whom was sorry for having bumped into the other person, started to apologize, offering out her hand to help her up. “I …I’m…. sorr..rrry. Di…Didn’t sssee you there. Are you… you o..kay?” Talking with this stranger was hard for Larcs, though this was normal, though she always tries to keep it under control. She is afraid of new people and in situations like this she stutters badly. She tried to put on a smile to show that everything was okay, but it looked more of a forced smile of someone that was panicking.

[Shina Nihilo]

Shina breathed out sharply as pain shot up her spine from her tailbone. It would not be the first time she had fallen. But no matter how many times you lost your feet and came tumbling to the ground, it hurt just as much as the last time. Opening her eyes, the young woman looked up from the ground and saw the person she had bumped into. It was a woman with white hair, dressed all in black, with a silver cross adorning her collar. The poor girl seemed rather timid. Shina had very little knowledge of such things, but she recognized the cross as a holy symbol, which led her to believe that this woman was either very devout, or a lady of the cloth. Shina reached for the nervous nun's outstretched hand, the leather of her glove creaking loudly as she wrapped her fingers around the hand. "I'm fine, Sister. To be fair, though, I wasn't exactly looking where I was going, either." she said to the holy woman, her voice quiet, as she pulled herself off the ground. She gave herself a quick brush-down, swatting away any dust, dirt or gravel that had stuck to her clothes.

"I apologize for bumping into you like that. I got a bit too caught up in looking around. This place is... amazing. Truly beautiful." Shina then said to the nun, her tone shifting from quiet politeness to awestruck. She took another look at her surroundings, her eyes wide with wonder at the beauty of Clover Town, light from the sun turning her dark brown irises into pools of gold. Her fascination was almost like that of a child seeing its first rainbow. The young girl sighed, simply staring off into space for a few more moments, before she snapped back to reality and brought her gaze back to the sister. Slowly, her expression returned to its previous, less expressive state. However, she did crack a small smile.

"Oh, almost slipped my mind. I'm Shina." she said, placing a hand against her chest to emphasize that she was introducing herself. Then she extended that hand for the holy woman to shake. The red plates on her gloves shined in the sunlight. "And you would be...?"

[Guest]

Larcs pulled up the person whom fell. The girl also seemed quite sorry about the accident, saying something about being caught up with the beauty of this place, something which when said, Larcs nodded in agreement. She too thought this town was rather spectacular. It was peaceful and had served well as her home since the war. Larcs was going to introduce herself, however the person now seemed to be lost, looking around, with a look of awe that was similar to a child watching a good street performer, or many of the people that had once came and entered into the monastery, whom stared around at the beautiful structure in amazement. So, Larcs waited for the peculiarly dressed woman to finish.

It didn't take long for her to return. Larcs noted that when the woman did return, almost all emotion left as well. Then the girl introduced herself as Shina. She extended out her hand towards Larcs, and glinting in the sunlight, the curious gloves on Shina's hands stood out greatly. Larcs was curious about them, but currently she was being asked who she was. She took the outstretched hand and shook it, “My.. my name iss Larcs.” Unsure of how to proceed from there, Larcs let go of Shina's hand and created an awkward pause. She wanted to continue this conversation, after all all she had planned for the day was to go pray for help at the church, which could wait until later. Something about Shina struck Larcs as odd, besides her taste in clothing.

Trying to strike up and continue the conversation, Larcs tried to pick up on something that might interest this newcomer to town. “S-Say, you like the sites of the town? W-Well if you would like, I can show you around. There a-rre several pretty pplaces around toown people don't commonly see.” Larcs waited to see what Shina would say with a cheerful smile on her face, half expecting Shina to say no, but hopeful she would say yes.

[Sponsored content]