Things Look Better with One Eye Closed

Kieran glanced out of the corner of his eye in time to see Jetta giving Siva a look. He didn't know anything about Jetta or Ryn other than what the owl had told him. Relationships were something he didn't really understand though. He had been told many times by women that they loved him, but love to them was nothing but sex with him. In his world there was no such thing as actual love, just sex that borderlined rape.

"I didn't know that it was bad for me either," Kitai said. "And I didn't know I was carrying twins either until recently. I guess fighting will have to wait until they're born. But hopefully we'll have peace by then."

Kieran became a bit more comfortable as silenced ensued between the three of them, at least for a moment. At least with silence he knew what to expect. Nothing. With silence, there was no risk of offending someone, or getting yourself in trouble. You were alone with your thoughts, and there was no one to interrupt you. However, silence didn’t seem to be Sivas sort of thing - based off of his first impression of her - and he was simply left wondering exactly what she was thinking.

What Siva was thinking soon became obvious as she spoke her mind. "Hm, you smell good," she commented. "Do you wear some kind of scent or is it just naturally how you smell?" Jetta rolled her eyes at 17's tendency to say whatever she was thinking out loud. "Come on! Let's go find the weapons shop!"

Kieran looked back and forth between Siva and Jetta, not sure who she was talking to at the moment. He didn't wear any kind of scent, unless the smell of oranges was still lingering on him from the drug. That was unlikely though. "Th-....Thank..you?" he said hesitantly after a long pause. They meandered the streets for awhile until Kieran spotted a building. The sign above it was a painted wooden sword, with letters that he couldn't make out. He recognized them as english, but didn't know what they meant. The sword made him think that it was a weapons shop. However, curiosity was eating at him, and he decided to go against what Estes had taught him and commit the unthinkable. "What does it say?" He had asked a question.

"It says Rowan - the surname of this town's blacksmith. In the basement is a fight club that he owns," Siva said. "I know a lot about these towns since this is the area that I am assigned to cover. It's a place where humans and even weres have fights for recreation. No one ever gets seriously hurt, but they use it to sharpen their skills and meet people. The forge is out back and his wife sells his merchandise on the main floor. He's a really good person and can be found in the club as often as his forge."

When Kieran had asked what the sign said, he hadn't expected to get the owners entire life story along with it. Still, he had assumed that Siva was a talkative person, and so far she had yet to prove him wrong. He waited for either Siva or Jetta to enter first, since he didn't have the self confidence to do it himself.

((I have to go for tonight. I work tomorrow at 5 though, but I should be back by 9 or 9:30 your time. I'll be on in the morning though, around 11 or so your time.))

"Come on!" Siva grabbed Kieran's hand and pulled him into the shop after her. She had a short exchange with the woman at the counter then dragged him over to a rack of different weapons. "Here, take your pick! Just pick them up and play with them a little bit to see how they feel. It'd probably be best if you stayed away from projectiles though, since they take a lot longer of a time to learn."

Kieran didn't have time to flinch as Siva drug him into the weapons shop. He turned his head every which way at the weapons that adorned the shelves and walls. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat as he spotted a few that he recognized. He definately knew how a whip worked, but he couldn't see how it could be used outside of just simply beating someone. Then he spotted a smaller version of the scythe. The handle was about the length of his forearm, and the blade was a bit smaller as well. He remembered Fiyaro deciding to experiment with them one day at Kierans expense. What had he called them? Kamas? He couldn't remember exactly, but decided to stay far away from them.

He scanned the entire room, looking at the weapons but too afraid to pick them up. He knew what kind of damage could be done with them because either he had seen them used, or they had been used on him. He didn't want to break anything and get Siva in trouble either. Sai, Uchiwa Fighting Fans, Falchions, Spathas, Stilettos, Katars. It was like you name it, they had it.

((Currently scouring the web for a weapon. XD I think I might've found one though. I hope you don't mind me playing the guys wife for just this post. I wanted to give an explanation of the sword. ^^))

Finally, he decided to get brave and at least pick something up. He grabbed one of the ones he didn’t recognize. It was about 37 5/16 inches and weighed around 2 pounds, 10 ounces. He moved to pull it out of the sheathe, expecting to find some difficulty. Kieran swore under his breath as the blade practically flew out of its container.

“Poitiers,” Kieran heard a woman say from behind the counter. He assumed it was the blacksmiths wife. “It’s a rather agile sword. The very strong profile taper of the blade leaves the point of balance about 1/2 an inch closer to the guard than on most of my husbands swords. In doing this, the Poitiers becomes very fast without sacrificing either point control or blade presence.” Although Kieran appreciated the information, he had no idea what it meant.

“Tried one like that before,” the woman continued. “The point was easily controllable, and passed through targets with almost no resistance. Most of my husbands swords will penetrate a jug with about four to six inches of blade, after which the jug moves, usually falling off of the stand; the Poitiers showed a tendency to pass 12 to 15 inches of the blade through a jug before the target moved. This sword follows one's hand very well, and I felt as though I was doing nothing more than pointing at the jug in order to skewer it,” she added, giving a small chuckle at the last part.

((Kieran doesn't know the exact length and measurement, I'm just giving it to try and illustrate it better. I'll be back around 1 your time.))

((XD go ahead. I'm not going to do anything with disposable people with information that I just made up on the spot))

"Oooh! 12 to 15? That's pretty good!" Siva commented from another row. "I tried one of those once, but it wasn't mine. My sword got knocked out of my hand so I did this!" She grabbed one of the whips from the wall and snapped it toward the poitiers. The leather strip wrapped around the hilt and came with it when she pulled back, catching it in her hand. "It doesn't work too well with anything heavier. By the way, these are nice whips. I might get one."

Kitai strolled through the marketplace, looking for anyone who was selling chickens. She had seen some pigeons for sale so far, but doubted that their eggs would be very good.

Kieran shuddered at Sivas use of the whip. He idly started to examine the poitiers sheath, just as something to keep his mind and hands occupied. Not that he knew what he was doing. He set it back on the shelf and started looking around once more.

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Akaelin had found a merchant selling chickens, but Kitai was no where to be seen in this area. Perhaps she hadn't found them yet. He hoped that when she bought some he would be able to control his urge to eat them. He could picture them fleeing, flapping their wings as they tried to fly away. The taste of the blood as he sank his fangs into their tender flesh.

"Hey, whats the matter?" Siva asked as she saw Kieran shudder from the whip. "I wasn't going to hit you. Oooor...maybe you've had some experiences with these." Because she was so young Siva didn't know the full extent of what tsoulus went through.

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Kitai finally gave up walking around and closed her eyes instead, beginning to walk again when she heard the clucking of chickens.

Kieran bit down on his tongue to keep himself from saying anything. It was true, he wasn't the greatest fan of whips. There were a few other weapons that he was familiar with. There was a poniard that some guy had once used to sheer all of the hybrids hair off because the man had gone bald early. "Nothing," he finally said quietly.

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The smell was too intoxicating to resist. If he took one now, then hopefully that would kill the urge and he wouldn't want one later. Akaelin hid inside a group of people and changed form, eyeing up a chicken in its cage.

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"Come back with my chicken you flea ridden mutt!!"

Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, Akaelin thought to himself over and over again as he ran in wolf form with a dead chicken dangling from his mouth. He wasn't as sneaky as he used to be, and the owner - the same guy who was now chasing after him with a meat cleaver waving around in the air - had seen.

'HiKitaiByeKitaiChickensAreBackThatWay,' he said in a rush as he passed the werewolf.

Siva decided not to push the subject and instead examined a couple of Eastern-style knives tied together with a woven metal cord. "Oh, I could use one of these!" she exclaimed. "An Aravos ate mine when Jetta let them out. Its stomach probably digested it nearly immediately."

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Kitai raised an eyebrow at the sight of Akaelin. Running off with chickens seemed to be pretty out of character for him. She approached the stand that was now missing its owner and took two chickens and their cages, leaving out money to pay for three chickens.

Once he had lost the owner, Akaelin settled back in a nice, secluded alley with his prize. It wasn't nessicarily a fat chicken, but it was a chicken none the less. He set it down on the cobblestone, its neck limp where he had snapped it. He laid down, crossing his paws over it to hold it in place and started to pluck some of the feathers with his teeth. The arctic didn't really feel bad for taking a chicken. He would've rather gotten the whole thing out of his system now than eat one of Kitais.

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Kieran glanced back at Siva momentarily, wondering how the girl could be having so much fun looking at weapons. The last time he had had any fun was playing 'Catch the Pixie' as a kitten with Ryssa. She used to redirect sunlight with a small handheld mirror, so that it would hit the walls. Fasinated, he used to bat and swat at the light, wondering why he could never catch it. His mind flashed from one idea to the next, as he started to wonder where Jetta had gotten off to.

((gotta go))

Kitai started leaving the village, having gotten what she came there for. Quill met her just outside with Laertes so she could ride him back to where the rest of the remaining pack was camped. "Aren't you coming back too?" she asked her sister.

"No, I'm going to look for something," Quill said. It was probably best if she didn't tell her sister what she was going after.

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"Come on Kieran, you need to pick something," Siva said. "If you wanted something that's more of a mid-distance range and not super offensive then a whip might actually be a good choice for you. You can hit your enemy's eyes and blind him, disarm him, or confuse him. It's actually pretty handy."

((Okie dokie. I'll be back around 9 or 9:30 your time.))

Kieran would've said fine, agreeing to whatever Siva said. But he didn't honestly think he could bring himself to touch a whip, much less hurt someone with one. Maybe he should've just stayed back in Akribos. At least there he knew what people expected of him. He knew what to do, how to do it, and when to be done with it. Here though, there were so many new things to take in. People were trying to talk to him, and he didn't know how to talk back. There was no way he was cut out for the whole Society thing, despite Ryssas wishes. Everything she had ever done for him had blown up in his face. Who was to say that this wasn't going to do the same? Hopes, opinions and dreams? He didn't have any of those. He went through most of his life like he was on novicane, just watching the world speed past him while he simply sat there waiting - no, begging - for the day that he would die.

Screw Ryssa. He couldn't do this. He set down the sai he had been subconciously touching and stepped back from the shelves, his head bowed as if in defeat. He wasn't fit for this whole thing. Fighting, weaponry. He didn't have the drive or the motivation for either of those things. He'd only ever be good for one thing and one thing only. He suspected that Siva would give up and walk out, and frankly he didn't blame her. He wasn't good at conversation, since very few ever attempted it with him - Ryssa, Jan, and Jetta that one time. It would be best if I just went back to Akribos, Kieran though solemnly to himself. Jetta and Siva wouldn't have to worry about me, and Akaelin wouldn't have just an extra mouth to feed.

Kieran moved back and leaned against a section of a wall that didn't have weapons dangling from it. He fisted his hands in his hair - despite the fact that he hated the feeling - and closed his eyes tightly, trying to concentrate. He had never been more confused in his life. A big part of him just wanted to say 'screw this' walk out the door and catch a carriage to Akribos. Yet there was this tiny little nagging voice in the back of his mind. The barest little hint of a whisper, it kept saying ...

'You're better than that'

Without thinking, he grabbed the closest whip off the wall. He didn't care what color it was, how long it was, or what it was made of. He just needed to grab something and get out of there before that little nagging voice in his mind went away.

((Dude....I cried at some point during this post. TT^TT I haven't done that since I almost killed off Yoko and had him awaken back a long time ago. XD))

((just watch the Repo start to influence Quill XD))

Quill walked along the back alleys of the town until she caught a whiff of what she was looking for. Her hands had started to almost imperceptibly shake, but it was enough for it to bother her. She followed the faint scent of flowers along a confusing series of narrow streets until she found the source: a man wearing a long leather coat. It was quite fortunate that she was able to find some in this city, the shaking wouldn't be the only thing to happen to her if she didn't get any. "How much?" Quill asked the man. Price mattered little to her.

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"Good. We'll take these," Siva said to the woman at the counter, pulling out money to pay for the two whips and knife chain. "By the way, is the fight club age still 18?"

"Yep," the woman laughed at the Society warrior's disappointed face. "Still gotta be 18 to fight. Though after seeing you take down that menace with your bare hands outside of this very building I doubt any of the guys would want to go against you anyway." Siva sighed. That was the one thing she didn't like about saving the asses of this town and other ones from malicious weres: they all treated her differently when she just wanted to be like them.

((*starts singing the can't get it up song* XD I was actually going to turn Sakari into a Graverobber like person. As well as introduce a drug from Spac, sort of similar to Zydrate, but not quite. Yoko will hook Quill up with what she needs. XD

I'll edit this into a post when I get back.))

Kieran tilted his head slightly at Sivas obvious disappointed. Though it seemed to go beyond just not being old enough to fight. He pondered for several long moments as he left, eager to be out of the building. "Something...wrong?" he asked hesitantly, his voice quiet and uncertain.

Siva started to shake her head, but stopped herself. "Yeah, actually," she said. "When I was five my village was under constant attack by a certain weretiger that took enjoyment in picking us off one by one. The warrior that was sent after the tiger had an unstable temper and ended up turning into an Aravos. If not for a higher ranked warrior that was luckily nearby then the village would have been wiped off the map; if my brother didn't push me into a niche under a building and block the opening with his body then I would have died. I was taken back to become one of them, but now I realize that many people see us moreoften as monsters than saviors. You look like him you know, my brother that is."

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Quill pocketed the pouches that she had bought off the man in one of the bags that hung from her belt and started to navigate her way out of the village. May Ammit devour your corrupted heart, she thought angrily, realizing that half the anger was at herself.

((finished the third book.....Wulf lives in Minnesota!))

((Wulf is the fourth book. Zareks book is the third. ^^))

Kieran looked down at the ground, his face reddening slightly. Even if he looked like Sivas brother, he doubted that he acted like him. "I'm...sorry," he said after one of his long pauses. Kieran often found himself thinking more often than talking. He wasn't really sure what to say to Siva. While he missed his sister, she was at least still alive. He also had a brother, but that brother was an arrogant little brat who spat on those who worshiped the ground he walked on.

He saw Akaelin in wolf form, a half eaten chicken dangling out of his mouth. 'Sup,' Akaelin mumbled with a quick head nod, trotting off to finish eating his little treasure. An alley cat had decided to bother him at the wrong moment. And now it was a dead alley cat.

"No, it's okay," Siva said. "I've gotten over it for the most part. I just wish I could do what Jetta does and go back to what I looked like as a human. I can erase my mark, but the blond hair and silver eyes are here to stay. I've just decided not to let his sacrifice go to waste - it's why I've learned so many weapons."

The Society warrior saw Quill emerge out of an alley and look around a couple of times before exiting the city in the direction of the rest of the Rebellion. One of her pouches was half open and she thought that she smelled the faint scent of flowers following the wiger.

Kieran caught the faint smell of flowers as well. It smelled vaguely familiar, but the memory of it was so lost in the back of his mind. It was either a perfume, or a drug. He had smelled both versions. He was most familiar with the drug that smelled like oranges. It was a kind of aphrodisiac that made a person almost crave sex. Quitting cold turkey made one nausiated though, which sucked a bit. But this one that smelled like flowers, he couldn't remember at all what it did.

"Hmm, that was some strange perfume," Siva commented. "I wonder what it was? Dahlia? Lilac? Poppy?"

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Quill noticed that her pouch was half-open as she walked through the forest; she growled and shut it all the way. It made her wonder how long that Set had been planning to use her as his weapon since he had set up such an elaborate plan. Threatening her with physical pain didn't effect her at all, and she had been rather suicidal for a dead person in the underworld. When one of the friends she made in the underworld offered her opium she didn't see what harm it could do since she was already dead. Quill didn't want to count the times she had been reduced to groveling at the god's feet going insane for another fix.