[b]Laciel and Noelle[/b]

Noelle held her breath, frozen to the ground in fear. [i]"What did I just do?"[/i] she thought to herself. She only moved when a guy came up to her, telling her that everything was going to be alright. [i]"No, it isn't going to be alright."[/i] Then, another guy came up, a person who knew her name even though she didn't recognize his face. At least the swords-woman was backing off. Before she could question the robed man, Vincent yelled and a blade was suddenly pointed at her chest. 

He was mad at her. Yet, Noelle held her ground, even though Vincent had drawn out his weapon against her. He then seemed to recognize her, stabbing the sword down into the ground and continued his talking. After he had left with the thief thrown over his shoulder, Noelle hung her head, staring at the dusty ground. She had definitely made him mad. 

"Whats up with that guy?" Laciel stayed beside her, confused at what just happened. Were their intentions wrong, or was there a miscommunication of sorts. Either way, whats done was done, crisis averted for now. "Ugh, all we know was that this guy he took was a thief, and robbing people from the way Mr. Fussy Pants put it..." He just sighed before continuing on. "So, should we go after him?... Er, Missy?" Laciel bent his head see her face as she stared at the ground after the scene that just occurred. "Look, he was probably not thinking clearly for the time being, and that clouded his thoughts. If you didn't step in, things would of gone from bad to worse. If they started to fight, I would of jumped right in, trying to disarm them... S-so thank you," he said, giving her a genuine smile.

The man beside her had begun to talk, thanking her for what she had did. Noelle sniffled, looking up at the guy before she rubbed her eyes. Did she even want to go after Vincent right now? No, she would wait till she could properly apologize to him alone. "N-no, it's fine," she said, her lips pulling up into a tiny smile. What he had said made some sense; Vincent was probably stressing out. "Oh, no problem," she answered, a light blush covering her cheeks. She was always easily embarrassed when thanked by anyone. Despite recent events, Noelle straightened herself up, a light chuckle escaping her lips. 

"Hey, it's nice to meet you. I'm Noelle." 

"My name is Laciel, pleasure to meet you Noelle," he said, giving her a friendly nod. "(She mentioned something about the Blades earlier... Does she mean Sacred or another group,)" he wondered, quietly contemplating to himself before continuing on. "Anyways, we should return the stolen money since Mr. Grumps doesn't want to do it." Laciel picks up one of the sacks of money, and juggles them for a bit before catching them in his arms, cradling the three like they were a whole baby. "Well then, shall we Missy?" Laciel took one of the sacks, and stretched his arm towards the girl. "I mean, it would be rude to leave ten people hungry and deprived, right?"

She took the sack of money, quite impressed with Laciel's juggling skills. "Yeah!" she agreed, picking up a few more sacks. Well, the thief certainly a skilled pick-pocket. At least the owners of the stolen goods would be getting it back. Before long, the pair had found the ten people, graciously giving back their money. When they were finished, Noelle gave out a long sigh. It was an arduous time trying to locate that certain person in the midst of hundreds. She glanced at Laciel, knowing full well that he was the type to be in the Blades. However, she had never seen him before, so she supposed this would be a great time to try recruiting him. 

"Hey, Laciel, have you heard of the Sacred Blades?" she asked. "I think you would make a wonderful addition to the group!" 

Laciel nodded as they finished returning the final coin bag to the robbed person. "Actually, that's the reason why I'm here in Ylisstol." He turned his head towards Noelle, his friendly smile turning into a serious, stoic look. "I've been looking for the group for quite some time... Rumors lead me to different towns, or bandit camps." Laciel sighed, putting his hand to his face before continuing on. "It was a pain to find you guys, but it was well worth it..." laciel let out a slight chuckle, grinning a bit. "Your leader Wyeth recently recruited me... He seems to have a balance of seriousness and friendliness, which I like."

"So, whats your experience with the Blades been like Noelle, because its been a while since I've been in a mercenary group," Laciel speaks, his eyes lowering a bit. Despite his smiling, theres a glint of sorrow in his eyes.

"Ah, really?" she murmured, pleasantly surprised that Laciel had already been recruited by Wyeth. However, she was more surprised that Laciel had taken great lengths to find the Sacred Blades. Did that mean the Blades were becoming more popular among the general population? Noelle smiled, glancing at the man before answering his question. She felt a sense of sadness from him...

"Oh well, I'm happy," she thoughtfully said. "I like everyone in the Blades, and it's fun helping out people. I'm sure you'll have a great time being a part of the group, promise!" she said, trying to subtly cheer up Laciel. 

"Hehe, yeah, I'm sure I will," he said, perking up immediately, smiling a bit. "I feel that this will be a wonderful and invigorating experience." He closes his eyes for a bit, reminiscing something for a bit, before opening them and continuing on. "I just hope the same fate doesn't befall this group, just as it did to the previous on I was in eleven years ago." Laciel rubbed his chin for a bit, frowning a bit. He then just shook his head, a rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "S-sorry if I brought you down on accident, I'm just afraid of them and what they did."

"Anyways, shall we watch the joust Miss Noelle?"

[i]"Eh? What exactly happened 11 years ago?"[/i] she thought to herself. When Laciel had mentioned his fear of 'them' and what 'they' did, Noelle could only helplessly wonder. She didn't want to unearth up more painful memories for him. However, she was confident that his old group's fate wouldn't befall on the Blades. Not with her around! "Don't worry! We're all capable of beating off any adversary we face," she assured. "And okay!" 

"Yeah, I'm sure you guys are," Laciel said, partially lying a bit. How could they stand up to the Grimleal? Who knows how powerful they've grown over the years since he left them... Then again, the Blades could stand up depending on how well they were trained. Once he spilled the beans, he would need to tell them everything... It was pretty stressful, knowing that if he slipped up, he might of doomed the world. But for now, he would discard all feelings of that for now. For now, he was going to enjoy watching this joust with a newfound friend and ally of his.

He gave her a small smile, and then continued cheering fervently with the crowd.