[color=7ea7d8][center][h2][u]Jeanne Christina Roussin[/u][/h2][/center][/color]

Fae smiled as she expressed her thankfulness. It was an honest smile which took her aback a little. For some reason she hadn’t expected that, it made him look a lot younger, around her age. A lot more human. She listened carefully to his story, her legs crossed and hands lying relaxed in her lap.  When he paused his story to look at her, she didn’t interrupt his story and continued to listen intently. Due to having studied the history of several of the nearest kingdoms, she had heard the name of Ty’Un or Sarkath’s Rebellion mentioned before, but she had never heard any details beyond the mentioning of the Battle of Two Confrontations and the very inadequate description of ‘it was a small rebellion, doomed to fail and so it did’. To actually meet someone who had participated in these events and was willing to share his own experiences of what she had been taught about was unimaginably fascinating. The scholar tucked away deep inside of her craved for something to take notes with, but the pragmatic mercenary leader just sat and listened instead.

Fae continued speaking of the noble goals his Rebellion had strived for, becoming more passionate about it as the words streamed from his mouth. Ris’ expression softened, his enthusiasm was contagious. Wouldn’t that be the perfect solution towards all this hatred and fighting; Uniting as one to fight a common enemy? But it had happened before, history told of alliances made and broken once the common enemy was defeated, internal strive always resulting in friction between Magi and Humans over time… Such a hopeless time they lived in.

[i]‘Human and Magi alike’[/i]… Those four words gave her goose bumps and let the feelings of unease return. She had stopped to inspect his features, convinced that even Aleks wouldn’t be so crafty. Still, there was another, perhaps even more dangerous possibility that she had hardly dared to consider as of yet. It could be that Fae was indeed who he said he was… And more, he could be a Magic User himself. The thought unsettled her more than she dared to admit. She was genuinely grateful for his help and more than that, he appeared to be the kind of person she could befriend given time. She liked his honesty, and respected how he could put his trust in her; opening up about the secrets of his past just like that to a stranger. She on the other hand was still very much distrustful towards any strangers, one could even call her paranoid sometimes. Not one of her finest traits, but she had her reasons… As for witnessing him murdering a woman in cold blood, most of her current companions had killed in a brutal fashion before, and not always out of self-defence. And despite that, they were good people.

She had stayed silent while he explained more about the Revolution, Faran and the woman whom he had killed. That all explained so much, such as the words he had spoken and she hadn’t understood. She had rather not learned more of Faran though. Learning about their backstory always made Magi targets seem more human to Ris, which made it harder for her to hunt them down without any feelings of guilt or sympathy. 

[color=7ea7d8]“I just have to say, I’m very willing to believe Faran has his reasons for acting like he does, I suppose even Magi do.”[/color] Her jaw tightened and her opinion on the other race could easily be read in her grim smirk, frown and mocking tone. She locked eyes with Fae and while she felt he understood and possibly would agree with her, she still needed to express her frustration. 

[color=7ea7d8]“But despite his reasons, he hurts innocents and ruins lives of those uninvolved in this seemingly unending conflict between races. Call me idealistic, but I don’t believe in killing or hurting innocents just to make a statement. Revolutions strive for change, but change always requires blood. The sacrifice of blood belonging to those willing to shed it, I can accept, but not the blood of those unwilling to die for an abstract concept such as change.”[/color] She breathed out sharply, it had been far too long since she had let out her opinions and they tended to bottle up inside of her, becoming sharper and sharper until they seemed to physically hurt her. Ris looked away from him as she ran a hand through her hair, sweeping the loose strands out of her face. 

[color=7ea7d8]“I’m sorry… That was uncalled for, wasn’t it. It’s a worthy goal you strive for, but Magi… I… I’m just a woman of very little faith… Faith in people I suppose. Reason of why I’m always distrustful towards strangers, nothing personal.”[/color] She smiled curtly at that, unconsciously grabbing the pendant hanging around her neck, caressing it softly with her thumb, her expression blank while she descended into the labyrinth that were here thoughts again. 

[color=7ea7d8]“Ah.. You asked who I am, didn’t you? Lemä stop me from rambling.”[/color] She seemed to relax a little again, the way he had posed the question confirmed that he wasn’t who she had feared him to be. Or his acting had to be even better than she knew it to be. [color=7ea7d8]“The way I phrased it before seems a whole lot more mysterious and interesting than the actual story I’m afraid, so I’ll keep it short for the sake of not boring you out of your mind. My whole name is a mouthful, so people simply call me [i]Ris[/i], a nickname my aunt gave me once. But feel free to pick [i]Jeanne Christina Roussin, Rous, Chris, Tin, Fiddler, Vilda Dačhar, Princess Arrow or Risk[/i] if you prefer.”[/color] She said, an amused smile remaining on her face this time as she counted down names and nicknames on her fingers. 

[color=7ea7d8]“And before you ask, yes, they all have their own story and no, I won’t share them yet, those require a fire, snow and something hot to drink. Back to your question, I’m from a town up north called Elmend, you might have heard of it due to its woodwork and the faith of Lemäika, though the first is more famous I believe. I left that town a few months back. I don’t intend on going back, so I suppose it’s of little relevance to you. Right now I’m what you could call the leader of this small band of Magi Hunters. There’s somewhat of a guild in place we all belong to, but nothing too well-organised. We track down any rogue Magi with a price on their heads, which is why we are after Faran now and apparently why we came across you. All of us have our reasons to join in such an enterprise, mostly out of a deeply rooted hate for Magi or just as a way of making money… I don’t feel it’s my place to share everyone’s story though.”[/color] She shrugged a little apologetically. [color=7ea7d8]“I believe that should about answer your question, it seems a little overboard to share my entire life’s story with you right now. And thank you for answering quite a few of my unasked questions." 

"And before I forget, there’s something more practical I’d like your opinion on; Would it be possible to travel to Riverseed sometime soon? I’m afraid we left some of our supplies behind in our optimism, supplies we might very well need. Or do you believe it would be wiser to wait a few days before asking the gods for a favour again?”[/color] Before he could respond, she held her hand up, her expression growing a lot more serious. 

[color=7ea7d8]“But more importantly, I have two other questions for you. Why now; Why would you incite the revival of your rebellion after all these years? It seems like your goal was to stay out of sight all these years… Why not act earlier or later?”[/color] She paused briefly before asking the question that was bothering her most. Afraid of what he might answer and the possible consequences. [color=7ea7d8]“You told me a little of [i]who[/i] you are… But [i]what[/i] are you. Human or Magi?”[/color] She leaned a little forward in her chair, keeping eye contact as she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her intertwined fingers. Involuntarily her eyes kept shooting back to the blade he had pulled out, now lying on the table. She didn’t feel too threatened by the gesture, but nevertheless cursed her thoughtlessness in leaving her weapons in the dormitory. If Fae would end up killing her, she just had to make sure to make enough noise to warm her companions. They still outnumbered him, even when not counting Rich and Levi. 
A comforting thought.