[center][h3][b]A Meeting of Fools[/b][/h3][/center]

[right][sub]Collaboration with [@Exit][@Darach][@PrivateVentures][/sub][/right]
The old bridge rattled now against the footfalls of an ageless beast. With each step, stone cracked and dust and dirt turned to a dense cloud around burnt feet. Gru moved with a purpose, only this time it wasn't toward a bush or tree or pieces of green. Something in that direction had offended him and... well... he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do but whatever it was, it was going to be done over there. Little else mattered. Not the green, not the cold, not the Eye, not even the annoyingly loud whistle that cut through the air only a moment ago. It was the scream that followed that pulled Gru from his relentless march and he came to a pause only a step away from the two clashing figures before him.

Gru stared at the sky as if to find the source of the noise.

[color=82ca9d]“Huh?”[/color] Gru quizzically spoke to himself.

[color=lightblue]“Chama! Enough!”[/color] Chao yelled at the wizard. [color=lightblue]“Put those bloody scythes away. We are taking Dali with us!”[/color] Chao drew his short sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left, ready to fight if he must. He made a point not to step in front of the red-haired man. Chao knew he needed both the bard and the wizard to complete whatever it is they were destined to complete. Harming either one would be a horrible mistake. [color=lightblue]“What the hell is your problem with this Ophidian anyway?”[/color]

Chama continued to spin his scythes, his anger consuming his entire being. He split Dali’s skull with a downward spin, but another Dali came into sight. So, he severed its head completely, but that didn't end it. Chama was fighting against an army of reappearing Dali. He slashed and severed as many as he could as fast as he could but to no end. He was exhausting himself. Just then he heard an ear-piercing whistle. He was mid swing and his scythe dug deep into the cobble stone beneath him. This wasn't just any stone it was a depiction of…. The cyclops eye!! His temper lessened and he became clear minded. He blinked and turned to hear Chao scolding his actions, questioning his issue with Dali. Chama retracted his scythes and gripped the hilts. [color=gold]“He doesn't know me to be spewing such drivel!”[/color] Chama bit his lip to control himself. He continued with labored breath, [color=gold]“He… could never get what it's like to be an outcast… with a beheaded father and nothing else to show for life but death.”[/color] Chama put his scythes away as he looked down upon the eye again.  [color=gold]“Never mind… the eye…   it calls to us… Saoirse… thank you for the wake-up call.”[/color] Chama nodded in her direction and turned back to Dali and Chao who was obviously armed and awaiting the next move.

Dali glanced up as he heard his name. At least the blades stopped their spinning. He stood slowly, still certain he would be under attack again shortly. [color=0054a6]“What do you mean… [i]‘taking Dali with usss’?[/i]”[/color] The wizard’s weapons were still. Dali took a few deep breaths and fixed the white-haired warrior with a penetrating stare. [color=0054a6]“Thanksss, of courssse, but what did you mean?”[/color]

From a distant perspective, not quite with the others, Gru blinked. His eyes snapped from the sky to the other figure now accompanying the original three. A tall thin man with boyish facial features framed by locks of white. He was brandishing two blades, one in either hand, and yelling at the redhead and the snake.

[color=82ca9d]"...Uuhhh."[/color] Dali muttered, but out of range of the others.

The red in the man's hair did remind him of the fireball that hit him in his face earlier…

[color=lightblue]“The coin!”[/color] Chao yelled at the large Ophidian. [color=lightblue]“The coin you were talking about on the stage. We all got one with the eye on it. It’s some form of an infernal invitation. We must find out what it means. What is the Painted Lady and a Fatherless Son? Where are the three faces upon a hill that will speak in unison? Does anyone have any idea what this means?”[/color] Chao paused, looking around at the group. [color=lightblue]“The Woad? Does it have anything to do with the woad which travels towards the Starlit Sea?”[/color]

[color=gold]“These are my questions too.”[/color] Chama spoke to Chao’s inquiries as he sat on his heels and traced the eye beneath them. [color=gold]“I have reason to believe my father’s killers are connected to all of this.”[/color] Chama gripped at the air making a fist. [color=gold]“I swore I would fight till the day he was avenged. Which is why I was so angry.”[/color] Chama flashed back to Dali’s performance. [color=gold]“I couldn't tell the truth from the illusions and I needed to know right then.”[/color] Chama sighed and stood adjusting himself and retrieving his cloak.  [color=gold]“I suppose I should have been a bit calmer but the end must still be the same. I need answers.”[/color] Chama covered himself once more placing his red hair under its hood and directing his gaze at a shaken-up Dali. [color=gold]“Answer Chao, what do you know and what's with the riddles?”[/color]

[color=lightblue]“I know as much as you do, friend,”[/color] Chao calmly replied while replacing his sword and dagger to their scabbards. [color=lightblue]“My guess is that we should travel to the Mourning Quarter and the Woad. Maybe we can find a clue there. Hopefully something will present itself to guide us on our way.”[/color]

Remaining at a distance from the group causing the fracas on the bridge, Gru reached for one of the fire-kissed braids.

...NO...

A soft barely audible sound like that of metal against glass could be heard from behind the grumbler followed by the glint of something metallic being tossed over its shoulder. Before stone fingers could wrap themselves around the locks of the wizard, a coin emblazoned with the Eye landed in the palm of his hand. He stopped.

...They are of like mind Gru...

Gru rolled the coin around in his large hands until it came to rest between his index and middle fingers. He held it up in front of his eyes. Framing the coin, and through his digits, he could see the other four characters in the alley. All of them still vaguely aware of his presence and too preoccupied with either each other or the hidden messages embedded in the city around them.

...They are friends... for now at least...

Gru peered at them from behind the coin, gave them a final grunt and smile that really wasn't a smile at all, and unwittingly pushed past Chama, coin held out in front of him as if it were a light. He moved toward the spiraling staircase, the simple machinations of his mind having already forgotten the still throbbing lump on his head and the complicated garble the others were spewing from their mouths. 

[color=0054a6][i]‘Unsatisfying answers all around,’[/i][/color] Thought Dali, brushing dust off his coat, and retrieving his hat. It was torn, a long gash ripped right through the brim. He sighed and stuffed it into his bag, in the same motion, feeling around inside. He came forth with his pouch and began rolling another cigar, intending to produce a tight cone, but succeeding only in a tight tube with only enough space for the paltriest of aerodynamics. He puffed heavily on it as he lit the tip, struggling to get the cigar going without inhaling its contents. It caught, but still required close observation, lest it burn too much on one side, due to the uneven rolling. Ordinarily, it would have been a clean-cut cigarette shape, but Dali’s adrenaline had yet to stop running, and his fingers still trembled, even as he pulled the leaf from his lips and spit out a thick and creamy smoke ring. [color=0054a6]“Didn’t know about the head thing. Sssorry.”[/color] He nodded to Chama, whose red hair was almost indicative of his temper. Needed a bit more red to be fitting. [color=0054a6]“All I know isss the legend. Picked it up from an old guy who ussed to visssit my granddad.”[/color] Dali had learned long ago that the real secrets, the secrets that have true bearing in the great workings of the world, were more likely to be found in legends and stories, than in the darkest tomes of the oldest wizards. This particular story, unfortunately, had so many iterations and revisions that it barely even resembled its original version. [i]Even so,[/i] he thought, as he puffed out another fat ring. [color=0054a6]“Warrior, what’sss your name? You sseem to know what’sss going on.”[/color]

[color=lightblue]“My name is Chao, Jhang Chao. I have traveled from the Jade Kingdom, many miles east of here. I met Saoirse several weeks ago. We have helped one another. I have learned some things about this city since being here. The Water Road, or Woad as it is called is somehow connected to the legend you mention. It seems to me, that is as good a place as any to start looking for clues. As I stated earlier, I know as much about this coin and the legend as you do.”[/color] Chao detailed as much as he knew or at least suspected about the legend. [color=lightblue]”Although, a painted lady could mean a whore and a fatherless son is often times referred to as a bastard. They could mean a whore and a bastard? But I’m grasping for ideas here.”[/color]