Cowboy Song (Closed, Roejaster Only)

[Shina Nihilo]

The engine of the motorcycle purred seductively as it idled at the top of the hill, a figure all in black sitting side saddle upon it. The grasslands all around were mercifully barren of snow, and the air was pleasantly cool, as opposed to hellishly frigid. The sun had even decided to put in an appearance and grace the world with its light, in what seemed to be an early taste of spring. The hill served as a vantage point, overlooking a town which sat upon the coast of a large lake or ocean. It wasn't easily discernible which was the most probable case.

The town itself was divided up onto four landmasses, with a river that forked three times serving as the divisor and running through the town, where it could serve as a direct source of water. Bridges connected the different sections of town. In what seemed to be the center was a large, ornate cathedral. That was all that could be determined from a distance.

The figure sitting on the bike sighed, the sound muffled by their black motorcycle helmet, which they proceeded to pull off and seat on the tail end of the two-wheeled transport. This revealed a face that was youthful, girlish, with soft features that were not fully developed. Small button nose, rounded jawline, big brown eyes, short cut brown hair with a silly cowlick sticking up defiantly. This served as a stark contrast to her clothing; black leather with lots of studs and pointy bits, with an obvious skull motif.

Unzipping her jacket to about her sternum, revealing part of her forest camo top, Shina reached into it with a gloved hand and began rooting around. The leather creaked loudly from the motion. Eventually, she produced a pencil, as well as a leather-bound journal, tied shut with a psuedo-silk string. Placing the pencil between her teeth to free up her hands, she untied the journal and opened up to a blank page, then grabbed the pencil and began writing.

"I'm just outside of Magnolia Town now. I don't know what exactly drew me to this place in particular, and I don't rightly care, either. But I will admit that I feel like something's pulling me here, closer and closer. I can feel the metaphorical tug from somewhere deep inside myself.

The town itself is beautiful. I can see now why it's such a hot topic on the lips of travelers and wandering traders. But I have not seen it up close, so I cannot go into detail about anything in particular which stands out. I'll add more later when I've familiarized myself with it."

Shina stared down at what she wrote. The handwriting was neat, uniform lines, with no curves or deviations. Plain. Sighing, she closed the book and tied it up again, stuffing it back into her jacket along with her pencil. She then zipped up her jacket and put her helmet back on, assumed the proper riding position for her bike, and took hold of the handle bars. Giving the motorcycle a rev, its engine roared to life, and she was zooming off down the road, towards Magnolia.

Once she was through the gate leading into the city proper, the mystery girl on the motorcycle slowed to a crawl, practically walking her vehicle through the crowded streets. She received many curious glances from passersby, but didn't really pay them any mind. So long as none of them jumped into her path so she'd run them over. After a few minutes of coasting down Magnolia's main drag, Shina finally pulled up in front of a bar, kicking out the kickstand so the bike wouldn't fall on its side and dismounting. Then she strolled into the bar.

It was a rowdy, crowded place. The smell of rank sweat and sour beer was thick in the air, and Shina had to squeeze her way past a great many people to reach the counter. Once she did, she sat down and immediate pulled off her helmet and unzipped her jacket completely. The bartender, a spindly blonde woman of maybe thirty, approached her, expecting a drink order. Shina look at the shelves behind the bar, spotted a pitcher full of ice water, and pointed a finger at that without a word, to indicate that water was what she wanted. The bartender seemed to understand, as she quickly turned around to fix her a glass of water, and then set it out in front of her. Shina nodded in thanks, and began sipping her drink in silence, the fingers of her free hand wrapping against the top of her helmet, seated in her lap.

[Roejaster Rallands]

"Rallands. Listen up, I'm sure you've heard about the notice..." "Yeah, the Guildless hunt." "Well I want you to keep a low profile. The Paladins are out in folds. If you get quetioned, just flash your tattoo and keep walking." Roejaster smirked "Don't worry Taiga I'll keep things quiet for a while." "One more thing. I want you and Tracy to gather as much information on Guildless mages in my town." "Can do..." Roejaster and Ranor's conversation echoed in the gunslingers head as he strolled down the cobble stone street. There was a pleasant ringing in the air, maybe it was the happy citizens, maybe it was the weather, it may have also been the fact that Roejaster felt more and more like a Magnolian day after day. The small glances, light skirmishes, and occasional dodging of seekers in the earlier days seemed to have been behind him. Though in all honesty he was rather hoping something would get exciting soon. He let out a large sigh and shifted his hat as he nodded to a nearby woman taking care of her fruit stand. He gave the woman a subtle smile and she returned with a gesture.  Roejaster took this as an opportunity to work his smile on the nice forty-something woman, she was a bit of robustly shaped woman with a large hearty smile. The woman wore a brown cotton shirt and white apron. That’s all that could really be seen from behind the wooden stand. He leaned in they began their exchange.

He caught the apple he had tossed in the air “Well… That got me nowhere.”  He smirked and shrugged “Though dinner at Annie’s place sounds nice, I haven’t had a mom cooked meal in ages.” His mind took a second to figure out where he should look for information next. He perked an eyebrow as he found a drinking hole on the side of the street. “Where there are drinks to spilled, there are words to be cleaned up.” Turning on his heels “It takes an outlaw to find an outlaw” he through to himself as he started to chuckle “I hate you Ranor.”

The saloon doors swung closed behind him, everyone in the bar shot him a glance. Wild arms softly shifted his trench coat, his hand floating over his holster. Silence fell over the city bar… “Round on me!” Roejaster shouted and threw jewels into the air. The bar lit up with cheers as the Roe made his way to the bar, adorning a rather large grin, strutting a little taller than usual. He cozied up on a stool and nodded to a bottle of mid-grade whiskey. The bartender slipped a couple of ice cubes into a glass and filled a generous portion of the glass. Roejaster took the moment to feel out the room. As far as he could tell, there was no one stemming out of the ordinary. Just then a girl adorning camo, called for a glass of water. Bingo.  Roejaster turned to the girl with his patented smirk “Just a cool glass of water? I offered the bar a round, of course that includes yourself. Go ahead, anything you’d like.”

[Shina Nihilo]

Shina glanced over her shoulder when she heard someone shouting about how the next round was on him. She didn't exactly understand what he meant by "round", though whatever it was, she was able to piece together that he was paying for it. This went over well with the crowd, as their voices all rose up in a near-deafening roar of cheering and general rowdiness. A bit of glad-handing here and there, and the drinks soon started flowing. Maybe a "round" was another glass of liquor? Shrugging her shoulders slightly, the quiet girl in black turned back around and resumed nursing her ice water.

Being honest with herself, she didn't like this place. And she didn't like this crowd. It was too loud, too busy. Too many people. It made her uneasy. But she couldn't help thinking that uneasiness ran a little deeper than "Oh god this place reeks! Get me out of here!" It extended beyond just this bar. It was this town. Somewhere deep in her mind, there was a little niggling worm of... something. Old memories. Old feelings. Something from the past she couldn't remember. And all of her senses were screaming, screaming for her to get out of here. To just get on her bike, rev it up, and speed off in the general direction of "away." It wasn't anything solid, or scientific. It was base, instinctual.

Shina gritted her teeth and brought her free hand to her forehead. Her head was throbbing. No, that wasn't accurate. It felt like her brain was slowly peeling itself apart like an onion, while she was being smacked upside the head with a brick of pure iron. The pain forced her to shut her eyes so tight that tears were seeping out and rolling down her cheeks. Bringing the glass to her lips, the young girl chugged down the rest of her water so fast, you'd think it was going out of style. After a few minutes, the migraine (was that the word for it?) subsided, leaving her dazed and confused.

“Just a cool glass of water? I offered the bar a round, of course that includes yourself. Go ahead, anything you’d like.”

Shina looked to the side when she heard the voice. It was that man again. Sitting right next to her now, she was able to get a good look at him. He was wearing a long coat with fancy designs sewn in, with a large hat sitting on his head. The whole thing looked... what was the word? Gaudy? Ostentatious? Something like that. Really showy, at any rate. He was... smiling, sort of. A weird little half-smile that didn't show any teeth. Shina thought it was what people called a "smirk", but damned if she knew for certain. Finally, she realized that he was talking to her. Well, so much for quietly having a drink and getting a room.

Sighing, she thought about it for a few seconds. She had never had alcohol before. Had no idea what it'd do to her. Presumably, she was one of those "lightweights" she'd heard about. What that implied, she couldn't say. But... well, there was a first time for everything, wasn't there? Turning her gaze towards the bartender, she spoke up. "Um, excuse me, could I get... crap, what'd they call it? Whiskey? I think it's whiskey. Yeah, could I get a whiskey, please?" Her voice was quiet, barely registering above a whisper. But somehow, the bartender managed to hear her. "One whiskey, comin' right up." She replied, turning away to fix her drink.

While that was going on, Shina took a moment to pull off her gloves so she could shed her heavy leather jacket. The metal plates on the gloves clanked as she dropped them on the counter. Once the gloves were off her hands, an overpowering sense of anxiety washed over her, and it was all she could do to get her jacket off as fast as she could manage and slip them back on again. The feeling subsided, and she let out a sigh of relief, almost automatically. With the jacket off, the tattoo on the inside of her left forearm was clear as day. "KD-0079", branded into her flesh in bold, black letters.

The bartender turned back around and set down a small glass filled with a golden brown liquid. Shina nodded in thanks, picked up the glass, and took a sip. The whiskey tasted absolutely vile, to be brutally honest. She had to fight the urge to spit it out, not wanting to offend the man who had paid for it, more or less. So she forced herself to swallow it. It burned all the way down. "Thank you for... for the drink." she said to the oddly-dressed man, her voice hoarse. She didn't expect a reply.

[Roejaster Rallands]

The tentative nature of the way the woman knocked back her whiskey could only really imply one thing. Rookie. So, so far Roejaster had come across an interestingly dressed character, he could assume she was new to the town, since she didn't join the camaraderie, and seemingly and adorably new to whisky. This wasn't a terrible place to start.

She winced hard but only for a moment, seemed painful whatever it was, quick too. He made sure not to make too big a deal out of it, but made note of it no less.

She thanked him for the drink and he raised his own glass in response to the gratitude, no matter how forced it was. "At least she's got manners" he thought to himself. He turned towards the bar, but being sure to keep his body open to the woman. Roe knocked back the rest of his glass. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye after the girl removed her glove, it was a small tattoo with a couple letters and a few numbers stamped in sequence. Looked military, Magic council maybe? No. Old war vet? Too young. Was it a prison brand? Too many possibilities, though this did make her his first prospective target. "Need another Roe?" the bartender asked, raising the bottle of the whisky he had been drinking. Roejaster smiled and waved his hand over his glass "No thanks, that water looks nice though" he nodded to the clear pitcher that had been poured for Shina. "You got it hun" she set the liquor down and poured a glass of water for the gunslinger and set it in front of him, with a clink of glass on the bar. He gave her a subtle tip of his brim. Then took a swig from the cool water. A slight satisfied sigh "You were right to get the water. Refreshing" He said, gesturing his words to Shina.

Turning to her "I'm Roejaster by the way." he offered with a slight smile. "Whenever I'm in this part of town I always try to swing by this place. It's a Magnolia staple. So I'm assuming that the fire water isn't the reason you came passing through. What brings you to our little slice of Fiore?" He held the glass of water like he would a glass of liquor, must have been the bar atmosphere. He'd instinctively swirl the ice around the glass and lift it by the lip of the glass.

Ranor had asked him to dig up what he could about guildless mages passing through town and an unfamiliar face was a better place to start than any.

[Shina Nihilo]

Shina kept a wary eye on the man sitting next to her. While she normally wouldn't have minded it, the guy seemed too... chummy. Like he was trying too hard to be friendly. Though maybe she was simply being paranoid. Ever since she heard word on the road about how the Magic Council was beginning to crack down on guildless wizards, she was a lot less trusting of people. It didn't help that whenever she thought about the attack that had sparked this new policy, the same name kept springing forth to the front of her mind: "Shadow Heart."

She had no idea who or what this "Shadow Heart" was, or how she even knew about it. But for some reason her mind just automatically connected it to the terrorist attack. And every time she so much as whispered those words to herself, she suddenly became angry. Angrier than she thought was possible for her. But the name also made her afraid. Very afraid. Already she was feeling a chill creep its way up her spine. She closed her eyes and gave her head a brief shake, muttering to herself that it wasn't important. She doubted this guy was involved with it, anyways. He was probably just a well-to-do guild wizard, looking to recruit a fresh face. Nothing to worry about.

Of course, that didn't mean she had to like how nosy he was being. When Shina spotted him stealing a glance at the sequence tattooed on her arm, she reflexively covered up the mark by grasping her forearm with her hand. Sometimes she wished she could just burn it away. Then people wouldn't have anything to stare at. And she wouldn't have anything else to remind her that she had lived a different life before the accident that had taken her memories. That was something she could do without being made aware of every time she saw that string of letters and numbers in the morning.

She sighed, but otherwise remained silent as the man ordered another drink, this time a glass of water. She couldn't help but think that he was trying to coax some kind of conversation out of her. But with her recent paranoid streak and her usual quiet demeanor, Shina wasn't all that eager to oblige him, genuinely friendly though he seemed. Guy even went as far as to claim that her earlier choice of water had been a smart one, and that he found it refreshing. It took all her willpower to not roll her eyes. She may not have completely understood what such a gesture meant, but she knew well enough by this point that this was the kind of situation it was meant for.

The guy turned to face her, evidently not giving up on trying to get her to talk, and finally introduced himself. "Roejaster," he said his name was. It was fitting, in its own strange way. Certainly unique, she had to give him that. Figuring he was expecting her name in trade, Shina spoke up. Well, as much as she usually did. "Shina." she said, simply and quietly, not bothering to clarify that she was introducing herself. She was still uncomfortably new to this whole "socializing" thing, and wasn't exactly sure of the proper way to introduce yourself.

Roejaster went on to say that he always made it a point to come to this particular bar whenever he was in the area, citing the place as a "staple" of the town. Somewhat unsure as to what he meant by "staple," Shina simply cocked her head to one side, one eyebrow arching upward in curiosity. The motions were almost childlike in their simplicity. The man in the showy coat and hat then deduced (correctly) that the drinks weren't what brought her to Magnolia Town, which brought him to the question of what exactly did lead her here. Shina's face went flush, more out of shyness than anything, and she averted her eyes, not wanting to look at Roejaster at this particular moment.

"N-nothing all that special brought me here, really." she admitted, sounding almost embarrassed by this fact. She paused and flagged down the bartender to get another water, then continued, her hand wringing around her forearm nervously. "I just... came here to see what it was like. I, uh... don't remember much." The words almost choked her, as they refused to leave her lips. And even once they were out there, she felt like an idiot. She had just openly admitted to having amnesia. Surely that wasn't something you did out of the blue. She immediately shut her trap, pointedly keeping her gaze away from Roejaster's direction.

[Roejaster Rallands]

This girl seemed pretty withheld, which only made sense since she was new to town. Though there was something that Roejaster couldn't quite put his finger on. It was beside the point though, he was here to find out what was going on with all of the guildless in town. Much to his dismay, they were all hiding. Ah well, then it'd be too easy. At least it kept him busy. Since the throw down with the Dark guild he'd been pretty busy digging up information. It had turned out that most of the guildless had fled town or joined a dark guild, both of which didn't help the cause. The sudden increase in dark guild activity had been a serious concern, though 99% of them were just thugs scared into wanting to fight the Magic Council. When put that way, he could sympathize. What the Magic Council did, was nothing short of martial law, revoking the freedom of all magic users. As if the responsibility of being a magic user was high enough. The longer you were a spell slinger, the more conscious you were of that fact. It had started to dawn on Roejaster, though maybe it was something he realized a long time ago, just never really wanted to admit it.

Shina didn't seem the dark guild type, if she was a mage at all, at least she was holding the conversation. Roejaster had to find a way to get some clue out of her. "Well you picked a good time of year to come jog your memory. Though I wish it were under better circumstances, the guards have been out in folds lately." He took a long sip of his drink "I hope they haven't given you much trouble."

Gesturing to the notice on the wall. The bartender pulled it off the wall and handed it to wild arms, he scanned it over as he took another knock of his drink "You seen this yet?" he turned to Shina and set the notice next to her.

[Shina Nihilo]

Shina sipped her water as Roejaster said that she picked a good time to come here and give her memory a jog. Honestly, her lost memories weren't even on her list of things to be concerned about. Let the past stay buried. If it were really that important, somebody would've tried to get in touch with her by now. So either there was nothing worth remembering, or the people she used to know simply assumed she was dead. Either way, the curtains had drawn. Exit stage, next scene. Time to move on.

When Roe made mention of how the guards had been out in force recently, Shina's eyes locked on him, showing an intensity that seemed almost... wrong, coming from her. Somehow, she figured that was what this whole conversation had been leading up to. Her gaze softened slightly when he expressed hope that she hadn't come under any undue scrutiny. "No trouble. Just gawked at me when I came riding down the main drag." Shina replied in her whispering voice, taking another drink of her water. "It's not like I was going out of my way to draw attention or anything."

Then Roejaster had the notice taken down from the wall and set it down next to her, asking if she had seen it already. Shina looked it over, not really reading it, as its contents were old news. Then she nodded. "Yeah, I've seen it. Can't really say that I care, though." She paused, knocking back the rest of her water like a champ. "If the Council wants to bark orders at people and draw a line in the sand in an attempt to reestablish their authority, that's their business. But that doesn't mean I'm going to dance to their tune just because they tell me to. It's my life to live, not theirs."

With that said, Shina signaled for yet another water, then began tapping out an aimless rhythm on the bar. She really wasn't sure where that little speech had come from. It was just... what ended up rolling off her tongue. But it was definitely how she felt about the subject. She was more surprised by the fact that she had found the courage to say it. Sighing, she looked at Roe one more time. "Why? Are you going to tell the nearest Rune Knight about me?" she asked him, honestly curious why he was even bringing this up.

[Roejaster Rallands]

If there was one thing to be said about Shina, she was awkwardly defensive. She started to pretty much hand him the information he needed. I guess he hit a button that was a bit of soft spot. For someone who didn't give a crap about people or political things, she sure had a lot to say on the Magic Council's decree. Her pulling into town under the radar was for the best, Magnolia was a lively place, but that was thanks to the influence of Fairy Tail, and to be frank the hunt has put even guild mages on edge. The after math of the decree, pretty much segregated the entire magical community. Some claimed it was unjust, others followed blindly just to stay out of trouble, some even went as far to go hunting for guildless in our own town. After her little rant, she then cracked at him for bringing it up. Roejaster put his hands up in a yield, with a cocked smirk on his face "The last thing I want to do is bring too much knightly attention to myself. Besides as far as this little notice is concerned, I'm not on the wrong side of it." He pulled his jacket down off his shoulder to reveal his Fairy Tail stamp. His eyes got serious again as they met Shina’s  “And before it crosses your mind, Fairy Tail doesn’t support the ruling. Though the guilds are in a favorable standing, doesn’t mean we all think it’s ok to sap the freedom from the citizens of this country”

He shrugged up his jacket and finished off his water, a few beats of silence rang in the conversation. “Now the first thing I should do is offer you a spot in Fairy Tail” he kept going before Shina could cut in. “However I think you should see it for yourself. Who knows you might like the place. It’s just on the east end of town, huge building with this same crest” he patted his shoulder “can’t miss it.”

He stood up from his seat, and dropped some jewels on the bar. “Fine as always darling” he nodded to the bartender. Then he gestured back to Shina “This rounds on me. Next time we meet, you can get me back.” And with that he tipped his hat and smiled, he turned and exited out through the bustling bar mongrols.

-EXIT-

[Shina Nihilo]

Shina's dark eyes glanced at the guild tattoo on Roejaster's shoulder when he slid his jacket's sleeve down in order to put it on display. Whether she was impressed or not was a secret hidden by a dull stare and taut lips. Her gaze fell to the counter when the bartender returned with her third glass of water, which she immediately wrapped her fingers around and took a sip from. She listened, albeit not all that intently, as Roejaster tried to plead his case, claiming that he didn't want to deal with the Rune Knights, and that the guild he was a member of didn't agree with the Council's policy. Shina would believe that when she saw it. She was finding it difficult to believe what anyone was saying in regards to this subject, let alone someone like Roejaster. He seemed nice, but anybody can seem to be anything if they wanted to.

When Roe went on to say that he felt she should check out Fairy Tail for herself, Shina did nothing more than shrug her shoulders, as if to say, "Maybe, maybe not." Honestly, she wanted to avoid the guilds if she could get away with it. Lord knows if she joined a guild, it'd wind up that she had been a member prior to losing her memories, and people would keep approaching her as if they were good friends, and it'd get all awkward as she tried to explain that she didn't remember them. So if she could avoid putting herself in that kind of situation, she would. Not that she was going to tell Roejaster that.

Having said his piece, the oddly-dressed man rose from his seat and put some money on the counter, saying he was covering the current round. This actually brought a smile to Shina's face. It was small, barely a twitch of emotion on a face that otherwise might as well be carved from stone. But it was a smile, nonetheless. As Roejaster went for the door, Shina called out to him. "See you around, Roejaster." Unlike everything else she'd said up to this point, this was loud and clear, easily heard over the din of the bar flies.

Once Roe was out, Shina finished her water and tugged on the bartender's sleeve to get her attention. "Um, excuse me, miss. Would you happen to have a room that's available for rent?" The bartender turned around. "So long as you're willing to pay for it, yeah." She paused and reached underneath the bar, pulling out a large black book and a pencil. "Just sign your name and you're set." Shina nodded and picked up the pencil. One signature later, she was upstairs in her new room. It was humble. Nothing but a bed, a single chair and an armoire. But she'd had worse in these past couple months. And honestly, she was just glad to have an actual bed to throw herself in. Which was what she did the moment the door was shut. She drifted off into sleep soon after.

-FINISH-

[Sponsored content]