[color=fff200][i]On a street in Jeorva...[/i][/color] "[i]Shh![/i]" the boy whispered sharply in response to [color=aqua]Raine[/color]'s question, "It's-- [i]ugh[/i]-- it's not what you think, okay?" His green eyes looked at her pleadingly before wandering, lost in concentration. His breathing grew shallow as he listened intently. The street was very crowded this time of day. He felt fairly certain his perpetrator didn't see him fall and hide, but he needed to be sure. "[color=E6FFCC]--agent of justice![/color]" The deep, foreign accented voice that rose above the crowd was definitely not that of an orc-- though orcs could hardly be referred to as 'agents of justice'. The boy's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What the...." For the second time that day, everything happened very quickly and all at once for Raine. The thunderous sound of splitting wood rang out just above her head as a pair of hands shoved her backwards and out of the way. The boy's cry of alarm was barely audible over the sound as he pushed her and the table came crashing down on his head. The table cloth collapsed in on itself, revealing Raine and leaving the boy face down beneath the rubble. The small bag had fallen out of his hands and now laid beside Raine's leg-- visible to her, but not Leon. As Leon made to grab whomever he could, he would find, upon managing to get a hold of the boy's arm, that he was quite limp under the tablecloth. Evidently, he'd caught the end of Leon's table shattering blow and it had rendered him completely unconscious. The sound of huffing and puffing grew louder as the boy's victim of thievery neared. He was an older looking man with peppered gray and black hair and a clean shaven face. He had soft brown eyes and wore a dark green robe, tied at his very generously sized waist. "Did-- did you catch him, my good sir?" he gasped, still trying to catch his breath, "I-- I can't thank you enough. That boy has-- has stolen from me in the past. He's a menace. Hang on to 'im. He's a slippery one. Give-- give me a moment to fetch those good for-- good for nothing guards, won't you?" The man's hand gripped at his chest with every breath. He was obviously not in the greatest of health. He made to cross the street to tell the two orc guards who had been chuckling at the spectacle that the thief had been caught. The orcs were supposed to maintain order in the towns, but they tended to be very... choosy. If they did not feel like pursuing a thief that had wronged someone other than a fellow orc, they would often let it slide. It wasn't uncommon for people to take the law into their own hands. Vigilantes and mercenaries were kept plenty busy with the poor excuse for a law system that had been prevalent for the past 60 years. The only rules anyone really needed to know where 'don't anger the orcs' and 'don't get caught'. [hr] [color=fff200][i]On another street in Jeorva...[/i][/color] The smaller orc stepped forward to investigate [color=DC381F]Brande[/color]'s offering. He took the cigars from Brande's hand and squinted at them with feigned discernment. Orcs would just as soon smoke a piece of cow dung rolled in paper than know a quality cigar when they saw one. Not that this was common knowledge. "Are they good, brother?" Varfu grunted impatiently, holding the maiden-- Zanna-- a bit higher and slightly shifting the grip on his axe. Zanna looked hopeful, despite Varfu's impatience. "Th-those are very expensive cigars!" she gasped, evidently noticing the value, "W-worth a lot of money, Shuzug!" Unfortunately, her plea fell on uncaring ears. The orc's squashed nose wrinkled as he smelled the cigars briefly. As he did so, his black pupils fell on Brande's sword. With a greedy twinkle in his eye he pointed a grimy green finger towards Esmeralda. "Cigars for Zanna's arm," he smiled sickeningly, his words were much more articulated than Varfu, "The sword for Zanna going home tonight. This is the third time she has thrown food at Varfu." He shrugged as he turned towards her, "Zanna is trying to make Varfu mad. Varfu and Shuzug do not know why, but we must teach Zanna to stop. Varfu thinks Zanna is nice looking and Varfu has been without pleasure for many weeks. Two cigars will not pay for ALL the trouble Zanna has caused Varfu." He gripped the side of the girl's dress and gave it a light tug to further illustrate his point. The maiden seemed horrified as 'Shuzug' suggested that Brande trade his sword for her freedom. She could not deny that she had thrown food at Varfu. The evidence against her was strong enough as it was. She merely looked at Brande pleadingly with her sharp green eyes. Varfu chuckled with amusement, "Shuzug is very fair. These are the terms, human man." [hr] [color=fff200][i]At the Academy...[/i][/color] The cranky professor grunted in response to [color=B8D945]Elspeth[/color]. As she hurriedly took off in the direction of the janitor's closet, the old man placed his hands on his hips and his gaze followed her still-muddy footprints. He shook his head and made a sour face, as if he was smelling something fowl. He watching her move all the way down the hall-- apparently intent on making sure she retrieved the mop and bucket as ordered. When he noticed her pass the janitor's closet, he grunted again, more loudly. He startled hobbling after her, muttering angrily under his breath, "Of all the dunder-headed... clod-brained... pribbling...." Luckily for Elspeth, his following pace was much slower than hers. As she neared the top of the stairs, however, the old man switched from a slow hobble to a quickly paced hop and stagger, trying to catch up with her. Blocking Elspeth's ascent as she reached the first step was a young woman in a long, blue-grey cloak. Her honey-colored eyes fell on Elspeth for a moment before falling on the old man that was slowly but surely closing in behind her. Without a word, she passed by Elspeth and approached him. [hr] [center][img]http://images.cooltext.com/4462803.png[/img][/center] Rowena looked at the human woman at the bottom of the stairs, furrowing her brow for a moment. This was one of [i]them[/i]. One of the elementos. But... which one? Saevel had said they had no way of marking which elementos was which. She would have to figure that out later. She inwardly sighed as she noticed Professor Augustine hobble-hopping after the dark haired woman, looking quite determined and out of breath. She immediately walked towards him. Rowena couldn't expect the others to gather here safely with this nosy human nipping at their heels. To Elspeth, the Professor, and [color=F7941D]anyone else who may be watching[/color], Rowena currently looked like a regular human woman-- her facial tattoos and ears were concealed with the magic powder that Saevel had given her. She knew she had to use it sparingly, but with the academy still being occupied, she couldn't risk running into anyone. She was glad she had taken the cautious route after seeing Augustine. During her time waiting at the academy for the past several days, she had overheard his name and seen what a terrible nuisance he was. She had also picked up on the fact that he was incredibly senile and often mistook fellow professors for students. She had no doubt in her mind that this was case here. "[color=6D7B8D]Professor Augustine![/color]" Rowena exclaimed, "[color=6D7B8D]I've been looking [i]everywhere [/i]for you![/color]" The professor stopped and stared at her with impatient frustration, "Young lady, I'm afraid now is not the--" "[color=6D7B8D]The Dean is looking for you, sir! He said it was incredibly urgent![/color]" "Wh-- the Dean? Now?" "[color=6D7B8D]Yes! I've been searching for you for over twenty minutes![/color]" Rowena softly placed an encouraging hand on his elbow and began to turn him back down the hall, "[color=6D7B8D]The Dean told me it was very VERY important, sir! He's waiting for you in his office![/color]" "W-well I--" "[color=6D7B8D][i]Please [/i]hurry![/color]" With that, the man was sent hobble-hopping back down the hallway with a look of confused worry on his face. "[color=6D7B8D]Now...,[/color]" Rowena said softly. She felt quite proud of her wit in getting the old man to leave so quickly. Turning to face Elspeth she kept her voice low, "[color=6D7B8D]Did you say you were looking for someone?[/color]"