Eiyuu Kishi Den

> Cian continued speaking as he wove his tale, the story enthralled the children with the youngest ones doing their best to stay awake but falling into the gentle bliss of slumber. Twenty minutes, thirty then finally nearly an hour later, the tale of warriors, magics, love and adventure was ended. The little girl who'd been so drawn in the story was fast asleep at the end of her bed, Cian smiled as he rose and stepped over. Moving a blanket over he covered the girl up to her mid chest, leaning down he kissed her on the forehead and then turned to Carianna and Ciprian.

Turning to the other children who were still awake the boy spoke in calm, gentle tones as he juggled a bit more. Using his skills to entertain and bring delight to them.

"Well my friends I hope you enjoyed the performance, and the stories, but I'm afraid it's time for me to depart. I promise to return though and I want a promise from all of you. Promise me you won't loose heart, that you'll do your best to obey the good people here and you should get well in no time."

The boy stepped over towards his companions and sighed, then glanced back at the children. A smile spread over his face as he regarded his two companions and spoke.

"Okay...could I get something to eat and rest a bit, I'm truly tired, almost as much as the little ones. Hehehe, I have a repeat performance for them later, and it wouldn't do to break my promise."


Cian

"I was about to intervene anyway," Carianna replied. "Dinner will be served, oh I don't know... about five minutes ago, I think..." she said. She let the concept sink in that they were late before grabbing both of their hands and yanking them towards the door. "We are late!" she declared. With a swift movements of her feet, she spun around and pushed the doors of the infirmiry open with her rear end and dragged the two surprised guests down the hall in a dash.

Carianna grinned wildly. "Run!" she declared. She turned her head forward and called out. "Incoming!" Her voice echoed down the hall and she chased it. Several people edged to the walls as she dashed by, laughing. People waved and giggled.
A young student priest chuckled. "Late again?" he asked as she got close to him.
"Yep!" she said.
As she passed him, she caught a fresh shirt he tossed her.
"Thanks!" she called out. Carianna dashed down the hall, her baggy attire flapping against the air she rushed through. Carianna ran straight into a wall at a turn, but sprung away from it with her hands. She didn't have time to stop. She pushed off the wall and continued her dash, assuming her two new comrads were following her.
"Running in halls will cause problems," an old priest called out, speaking in a wise tone.
"Rules are walls for the witless; rules are guidelines for acute!" she responded as she passed. He nodded in response.
Cari reached the long stretch and sped up. Time for some fun, her mind thought. The end of the hall was the dining hall, but the doors were framed with stone quite a bit. She hadn't tried this in over a month. "Just watch me break my neck," she thought. Practice makes perfect, her competitive mind replied. She always liked to match contradicting proverbs with those of her own fold. Neither side ever won, but it was still amusing. When she reached the wall, her body
refused to crash into it. Instead, she simply kept running. Her legs kicked up the wall and left it in an instant. She was in the air, upside down, and on the ground again. She stumbled at the last second and ended up landing on one knee instead of both feet. She stood up, snapping her fingers and sighing. "Can't get it every day, right?" she asked herself, then looked back for the others.

OOC: There is no where that you can get away with running in the halls! Breaking rules is fun!

Cian smiled and quickly followed the priestess, the boy couldn't help but laugh in glee. This was the most fun he'd had in a good while, as he watched Carianna duck and weave past priest and priestess alike, he did likewise giving each a smile. She was a lot of fun, not stuffy like so many stories that he'd heard about other holy men and women. When the trio finally reached their destination, Cian skidded to a stop nearly bowling into the young priestess. The boy dropped back onto his backside and laughed, in voice full of mirth Cian scratched his hair and spoke.

"Hahaha..that's more fun than I've had in a fort-night, I like you Cari, you're a lot of fun to be around. Hehe, it's good to see that not all holy people aren't as well...not so humorus."

Glancing back at Cip, the young theif stood up and chuckled as he patted his side, the tale tale soreness from the wound was long gone. The elder priest had done his work well, and Cian was extremely grateful for all of Carianna's good auspices.

"Well, when philosophy keeps telling you to relax and enjoy your life, why not actually follow it instead of just nodding your head and going back to worrying about how everyone else feels about you? Its just no fun!" she declared, throwing her arms up in surrender. She didn't cause any damage and neither did her companions. In fact, the only things that happened were positive. She was not AS late to dinner as she would have been. She practiced her own religion by being wise, or something. She got some exersize. She had a good time. She made other people have a good time. She got her new shirt. She practiced flipping. I find no negative in any of that, she declared to herself.

"Now, without further adue," Carianna declared, one finger up. "We enter, fashionably late." The young and witty priestess pushed the doors to the dining hall open calmly and walked in as if she was right on time, or even a little early. She strolled in with her companions in tow. The dining hall was probably the biggest room in the entire temple. It consisted of two long tables stretching across the room. The seats were organized quite precisely to leave plenty of elbow room for
each, while maximizing the amount of people at each table. The tables themselves did not have platters of food on them. Instead, there were a few priests who were passing out dishes of food. Everyone got a fair portion of everything. Like all of the rooms in the temple, this one was plain and without great adornment, but the room's simplicity seemed to make the eye twirl gracefully across it. The room almost asked the visitor to take in the whole picture, instead of focusing on little details or decorations. The only thing truly ornamental was a large chandelier that hung on the raised ceiling. It illuminated most of the room. It appeared to be made specifically for the room, but it looked quite expensive, very much unlike the style of the temple's other adornments. To Carianna, it was a gift of honor to the temple. To anyone else, it might have been guessed that the temple spent their donations for beauty instead of the betterment of their goals. Greediness was something the Rada priests were not, but that chandelier always made it look that way.

Carianna led them to a seat. She sat next to a priest she knew and made sure there were two more seats next to her for Cian and Ciprian. No one was eating their food yet. There was some scattered chatter for the most part. The young man leaned over to Carianna. "Late again?" he asked in a hushed tone

"I am not always late!" she replied, in that same tone.

"Yes you are..."

"Ok, so I am. Yes. I am late. Again," she responded.

"I thought so. What's your excuse this time?"

"Uhh... I was teaching theives economics so they knew who to steal first?"

"Not funny, Cari."

"Maybe I won't use that one after all."

"Why don't you try the truth?"

"Harmless lies. Little harmless lies. Part of human nature. The truth is no fun."

"Ok. What were you doing five minutes ago?" he asked, getting frustrated.

"Watching."

"Watching what?"

"A person?"

"Who?"

"Him."

"Him who?"

"Him!" she said, pointing to Cian.

"You were just standing there and watching him?" he asked, confused.

"Yep."

"Does he have a deformed nose? or..."

"I dunno. What do you think about his nose?" she asked, pointing to his face.

"Doesn't look deformed to me."

"Alright then."

"Then why were you just watching him?"

"I certainly wasn't good at it, so I just watched him do it instead."

"It what?"

"Huh?"

"What is he good at?"

"Juggling."

"You sat there and watched him juggle?"

"Sure."

"Did you pay him afterwards?"

"No. He didn't charge me. If he was going to charge anyone, I think he should have charged those little kids. They got a lot more out of it than I did. I almost feel a little jipped out of some juggling."

The priest looked at her blank-faced. "What kids?"

"You know... the kids."

"Like the kids studying?"

"Perhaps. If they are studying to be sick all of their lives, then I guess you could say they were studying..."

"Infirmiry kids?"

"Yes. Those kids."

"Oh... So, lemme get this straight. You were standing there, watching him juggle, but he was juggling for them, so you were waiting to have him juggle for you?"

"I am really not that self centered."

"Then you were just letting him juggle for them."

"Yeah, I think that sounds about right," Cari replied seriously.

"Well, why didn't you come out and say it?"

"Say what?"

He sighed. "You are doing the whole communications thing again, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Well, now you know."

"Know what?"

"I haven't been practicing it."

"Practicing what?"

"Communication!"

"I noticed that already."

He put his head into the palm of his head. "You slay me, Carianna. You really do."

"I can't slay you. It goes against my moral and religious beliefs."

"Poetically."

"Otherwise known as the common language, second edition?"

He chuckled. "I give up... If you would be so kind as to introduce me to your... friends?"

Carianna was standing on her chair. "Hey! Mierella! Got any more plated back there?" she called out. A voice echoed back that they were coming. "Thank you!" she replied and sat down again. The young priest just stared at her. "What?" she asked, totally obllivious.

"Have you no manners?"

"Sure. But they are my friends. How many times a day do you use perfect grammar when talking to your best friend?"

"Point taken. So who are these... new arrivals?"

"Good question. This is Ciprian Tremas, or something like that. He is a random knight I found and brought home with me. And this is Cian, his squire." Carianna smiled. "Do you think the high priest will let me keep them?" she asked, stifling a laugh.

"And as for you two," she said to her companions. "This would be Demarius. He is one of Roid's best sculptors. He is staying with us to develop his skills as an artist. Ciprian has probably seen the recently added statue on the promenade between the acedemic and government quarters of Mistress Belenevier." Belenevier was a legend that came out of the deserts of Flaim. She was a beautiful woman who was lost in the desert. To simplify the story, people say that when the dunes of sand hum or the wind sings, Lady Belenevier is watching them and calling out to her love, who died in some battle.

As Cari finished her introduction, a portly woman in a far more offical looking priestess outfit hurried over with a cart and placed a plate in front of the three of them. The head priest, at the other table, stood up to speak. "Good evening, my collegues, fellow followers of Rada, and honored guests of the temple. We should all thank priestess Meirella, priest Felmar, underpriest Keld, and priestess Verma for the food we have tonight. On to announcements... I have received an offer from the local temple of Marfa to, in a joint effort, restore the Vem Gardens. My opinion of such an idea is positive. We will need to get dirty, of course. Together, we can revive a part of the city that does need some work. I would like you all to consider this for yourselves and, if you are interested, visit myself or priestess Rue to volunteer. That is all for today. Now, with the blessing of Rada and an empty stomach, let us eat a meal." He sat.

Carianna dove into her meal without a word...


OOC: I just realized that I have been writing forever and you guys should probably get a word in somewhere.

Ciprian began eating with more decorum than Carianna, surprisingly. She was full of surprises since they left the infirmary. Ciprian found her enthusiasm refreshing, though running through the temple after her and Cian had been uncomfortable for him. He was in prime physical shape and unladen of armor, but he was a knight, trained not only in war, but propriety. He never considered himself a stickler for rules and etiquette, but perhaps he was more conditioned than he realized.

Ciprian looked to Cian, curious about the boy's reaction to the food he'd been presented with. The boy had completely shifted from the thief Ciprian had met that very morning. He seemed so much more alive and vibrant. Cip couldn't help but feel proud.

Cian smiled and like the priestess, the boy dove into his food with abandon. The boy thought about everything he'd heard, it was great, the happiness, the comradery. Cian was enjoying himself more than he had in many a year, it was so unlike what he'd heard and been led to believe about holy men and women. As he took a good gulp of the water he'd been given, he glanced over and saw Cip watching him with a slight smile. The boy loked back at the knight innocently and smiled as he spoke questioningly, wiping a bit of gravy from his mouth.

"Hmn..hey Cip you okay? What's so funny?"

The priestess, Carianna, did not look up at Ciprian's glances. She was hungry. She hadn't eaten all day, and had been looking forward to a hardy dinner after a day's worth of practice outside the gates of the city. And eat she did. The priestess did not make a mess or was overly sloppy, but her hands were swift in getting the food where it needed to go, regardless of how delicious or disgusting the food may have been. In the temple to Rada, every priest learned how to cook and there was a schedule for who cooked a meal when. It was considered a just and humbling thing for priests to do. Priests also had to rotate into the work of maids and servants around the temple, for the same reason, as well as the fact that they did not have the money to pay for servants. Any actual servants they had came at night as volunteers after a day's work from a paying employer and helped with special jobs of which the priests of Rada knew not how to accomplish, or required a skilled hand.

Carianna was the first to finish her meal. She hadn't even touched her drink until every bite had gone down and her plate was about as clean as if it were never used. She grabbed her mug of water and let it run down her throat, washing down the first flavors of the food that she actually picked up. Most other priests were eating at a relaxed pace, but she ignored their stares. They had a lunch and a breakfast. Carianna had nothing to eat that day, since the knight she was currently practicing with had all day patrols, so he could only work with her in the wee hours of the morning. She sat back, taking a breath, waiting for the others to finish their meals. It was good, as far as she could tell. Honestly, though, she really could only remember what she ate by glancing over at the platters other people were eating, since everyone got the same portions of everything. A napkin rose to her face and wiped her lips. She dropped the cloth aside and glanced around.

Ciprian chuckled as Cian asked what was funny. "Just eat, Cian," Ciprian ordered with an amused smile. He continued eating until his plate was clean, but he wasn't as thorough as Carianna. Once they were all finished, Ciprian looked to Carianna to lead them to whatever she had planned.

OOC: Dunno what else to say.

Cian shrugged and did as he was told, the boy certainly ate. The priests knew how to eat, there was a true repast of food gathered, and while he wasn't trying to make a pig of himself he was definitely hungry. The young thief decided it was better to eat as he never knew where his next meal was coming from. After downing the final bit of his food with a gulp of water, he wiped his mouth with a napkin he folded it and placed it on his plate. Turning his gaze towards Carianna the boy smiled and spoke when he saw she wasn't conversing with anyone.

"So what now? That meal was great too, thanks!!"

He was truly happy, the young boy could barely contain his ease as he'd finally relaxed. This really beat being on the run and constantly scrabbling from one meal to the next.


Cian

"Well, the night is free to us," Carianna said, glancing over at both of them. "I have no duties tonight. I signed out for practice all day, but my schedule seems to change when I run into knights and squires being chased by assassins... So, I suppose its relaxation, unless there is anything you want to see. The Art Rooms are open for a while longer and I am sure someone will begin rehearsing in the performance hall. That's all interesting, but most travellers would rather visit the bathing rooms or get some rest by this time. If you still have energy on you, there are always the different areas of the temple to explore. For the intellectually inclined or the religiously zealous, we are on the border of the acedemic and temple districts. Plenty of things to see there. The only other places I know well in town are the slums, but they really aren't a place I suggest for a visit..." Carianna tried to think of other things to suggest, but she was running out of ideas quickly. "Most any thing else in town will be closing. So, its up to you what is next."

"Well, I think I'll head home," Ciprian replied. "The services of the temple sound interesting, but I have to be up early tomorrow morning to discuss what to do about Cian's case. Cian, do you want to stay here or at my apartment?"

Cian thought for a moment, the boy glanced around looking at the gathered priests and priestess's as he considered the choice. It wasn't that he felt uncomfortable, but still living on the streets after so long he had a tendency to feel a bit out of place in certain gatherings.

The boy looked at Carianna and studied the young priestess and smiled. He liked her, but still he felt safer with Cip. Not that he didn't trust, Carianna...but the thought of being in a temple... Besides, Cian wanted to ask Cip more about what he'd be doing working as the Knight's helper. Turning back towards Cip he spoke as he nodded was ready to leave when the Knight left.

"I think I'll sack at your place, if that's okay Cip."


Cian

"Alright," Ciprian replied with a nod to Cian. He put his hand on Cian's shoulder and looked to Carianna. "Priestess Carianna, I'll be meeting with my commanding officers to consider how to deal with the man called Emir who sent the mercenaries after Cian. If I get permission to find and arrest him, would you want to accompany us?"

Cari was about to say that it was time to part, if Cian did not wish to stay, but the knight, Ciprian spoke up and offered her something. To accompany them? It struck at her heart. "Well, where do you intend to go? I have yet to travel from home and my duties to the public can be divied up amongst the younger priests that I work with, but I can't disappear forever. But, for a while, I can arrange with the High Priest to have my worldly travels begin. All priests of Rada are required to hit the road for a while. 'One cannot learn of life in books. One must laugh, cry, and strive before wisdom will ever come,'" Carianna quoted from some philosopher. "I suppose I could join you both. Besides, who is going to save you from assassins?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Well, Cian said Emir was in Flaim the last he knew, so that's where we'll start. I can't tell you how long we'll be gone, or just where the journey will take us beyond Flaim," Ciprian replied. "I'm grateful, still. After my meeting tomorrow, Cian and I will be back for you." Ciprian paused for her response.