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[center][h1][color=92278f]When No Man Pursues[/color][/h1][/center]
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[indent]The fading moonlight and flames of streetlamps were not enough to divulge the individuals’ gender, but it was enough to reveal their leery behavior as they made haste from the library and bungled down the road through town. In their gauche rush, the supposed thief soon collided with another individual standing outside the tavern, the same tavern Ren had carried her from less than an hour ago.  

In a way it was slightly amusing to think that this individual, in their haste to escape their misdeed, managed to run into one of the few people still awake at this hour. Devlin grinned ever so slightly while watching the individual clamber to their feet, gather their fallen possessions, and then fade into the night on their continued retreat toward the gates of town.  

-Devlin had taken Ren up on the offer to climb the bell tower, for she couldn’t refuse such vital exuberance. After all he had obviously been through, his enthusiasm to better this God forsaken world remained uninhibited by the afflictions of his past. He may not have been a warrior type, but he certainly had the gumption of one – and who was she, after all, to deny assistance… nay, to shun companionship from one who was ultimately after the same thing she was? Such hypocrisy would inevitably come at a price. Regardless of these things, the words Mada once bestowed upon her were those that ultimately had her agree to Ren’s help…

[i]‘There is no random chance, no coincidence to life… all things are united. The universe is a long since written and closed book….’[/i]- 

“You were right,” She said, turning her dowry look of solemnity to the musician standing beside her, “it’s an enlightening view from up here.” She looked away again, a little puzzled now as her eyes patrolled the moonlit hills beyond the town walls. “Why would somebody steal from a library… and then run when no one pursues?”  

The cold blade of contempt was still twisting at her heart, informing Devlin that her nemesis was still close at hand – and could that have been the reason for the thief’s hasty departure from town?  Perhaps they weren’t a thief at all. Perhaps they instead had knowledge that threatened their life. The night, it would seem, was open to speculation. But one question was perfectly clear: What stolen books - or what knowledge at all - could make a person decide that fleeing into the ominous wilderness at night, was a better option than remaining within the security of town walls?  
 
“Yes, the wicked flee when no man pursues….” She uttered the words, placing her hand on the arm of her friend and looking him dead in the eye. “But so too do the innocent when terrified.” A hairline current of violet electricity broke from her finger and crawled its way down Ren’s forearm, and no doubt tickled the skin of his hand as it fizzled out of existence.  

“You mentioned something about the Town Hall. Perhaps that [i]is[/i] a good place to start.” She lifted her eyes to the sparkling glory of the heavens. “And you might be right about another thing…. If you could do with some rest, maybe I could do with some too.”[/indent]