[h2][color=cyan]Leith Calder[/color][/h2] [hider=A month after the mission to Djarkel]A month had passed since Leith’s mission to Djarkel. After making his choices, a lot of weight had been taken off his shoulders. Now he was able to go to the gardens for the purpose of helping the garden instead of keeping his mind off things. It was as he was pulling at a rather stubborn weed that he noticed Henri, the new student that had helped them on the mission. He hadn’t gotten to know the man more than what he had learned on their way back from Sanguine. [color=cyan]”Hey!”[/color] It was at that moment that the roots gave way and Leith fell backwards with a shout. He was back up quickly and making his way over to Henri. [color=cyan]”It’s Henri, right?”[/color] Things were a bit… tense around the college, especially after what happened with Tyrael. It was safe to say that Henri didn’t feel exactly… comfortable there. Save for a few students that he trusted, Tyrael and even Gray were seen as potential threats by him. That said, the garden was a place where Henri could stretch himself and train away from annoying people such as said teacher and his minion. But to his surprise, he wasn’t alone that day, as another student called him, interrupting his stretching session that was almost uncomfortable to watch as it looked much more like contortionism than stretching [i]per se[/i]. [color=ed1c24]Yes?”[/color] Henri said, looking to the other student coming from behind him inquisitively as he saw him with dirt on his hands. Apparently he was tending to the garden. [color=ed1c24]“Henri Larue. I didn’t knew that there was someone taking care of the garden. I’m afraid I was using it to train. It’s much more peaceful than the normal training grounds.”[/color] Henri said as he instead of turning towards him, he simply walked backwards bending his back as he put both of his hands on the ground, slowly, but gracefuly making a cartwheel, stopping only a few steps away from the other student, finally turning around after that. Leith raised his brow when Henri cartwheeled over to him. [color=cyan]”There’s always people taking care of the garden.”[/color] He grinned. [color=cyan]”How do think it got to look like this? Magic?”[/color] [color=cyan]”Training in the garden’s perfectly fine, though just make sure that you don’t crush any of the plants or Rathel will have your hide.”[/color] He made a grasping motion with his left hand and a ball of water formed around it. [color=cyan]”I’m joking, of course. Rathel wouldn’t hurt any of the students here. Strangest demon I’ve met.”[/color] The ball slowly became murky, and when Leith pulled his hand out, his hand was clean. He made a pulling motion, and the water cleared and a clump of mud soon fell out of the ball. [color=cyan]”It’s Ghell you have to be wary of. Any damage done to any of the gardens here and he knows. It’s uncanny. But he won’t do anything too harsh.[/color] Before the mud hit the ground, it was dirt again. He used the ball of water to clean his gauntlet before dispersing it over the plants in a mist.[color=cyan]”He’ll probably make you work to fix what you wrecked. And complain about you training here, but that’s it.”[/color] Leith frowned. [color=cyan]”Larue...I’ve heard that name before.”[/color] [color=ed1c24]"I was born and raised in the Larue Circus. It safe to say that we're the most famous circus there is. Most of the people working there trained since they were young."[/color] Henri said, looking to Leith’s hands as he used water magic to clear them. To be honest, it wasn’t very hard to link Henri to a circus of some sorts or to think he was some type of artist based on many of his habits, such as the performatic bow he gave whenever he met someone and other small things. [color=ed1c24]"Grew up with daggers on my hand. With time my tongue got as sharp as the very daggers I was so used to play with. It also became kind of a habit to always have them with me. Even though we are famous, street artists aren't always loved by everyone, and... well... There is nobody to defend us other than ourselves as we are basically foreigners in every city we go. We are accustomed with having to deal with troublesome situations."[/color] Henri said with a chuckle. He more than any other member from the Larue knew very well about that. The amount of times he had to use his skills, his agility or even his creativity to get out of sticky situations was honestly absurd… [color=ed1c24]“About others wanting my hide… Used to it. Don’t worry. After my little meeting with Mr. I’m going to skin you alive for no particular reason, I kinda got the feeling about how things will be around here.”[/color] Henri said, rolling his eyes. As soon as Leith mentioned that Ghell would probably know about any damage that was done to the garden, Henri pulled his hand away from one of the daggers he had hidden on his clothes. [color=ed1c24]“So… Probably not a good idea to use the trees as targets to practice… yes?”[/color] He said laughing. [color=cyan]”Mr. I’m going to skin you alive for no particular reason?”[/color] Leith frowned. [color=cyan]”Oh! You mean Tyrael. Yeah...he’s not entirely the nicest guy, but dealing with demons for as long has he has is bound to make anyone abrasive, wouldn't you think?”[/color] Leith shrugged. [color=cyan]”But try not to think that that’s what the whole college is. I mean, even in your circus, didn’t you have at least one abrasive personality? And this college is certainly larger than any traveling circus.”[/color] He chuckled when Henri mentioned not using the trees as target practice. [color=cyan]”Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Let’s see, there should be a training grounds around here.”[/color] He beckoned to Henri as he turned around.[color=cyan]”Come on.”[/color] With that Leith started making his way towards the nearest training grounds. [color=ed1c24]“Back in the circus? No… We pretty much treated everyone as family there. And we are all artists. We sell not only our skill, but our charm, our smiles. So we all know very well to control our emotions and exactly what we need to speak to make the public satisfied. Yeah, the college is certainly larger than the circus. Even though we’re very famous, we’re still a… well… I wouldn’t say ‘small’ but we’re not that big of a group since every member has been training under the Larue for a long time. Most of us either were born already in the circus or we were orphans before the circus took us in.”[/color] Henri replied as he followed Leith to the training grounds. [color=ed1c24]“Speaking of training grounds… I don’t want to sound rude but… What’s with the huge gauntlet? It’s certainly not that useful for gardening, is it? If anything, I would think it’s exactly the opposite… Unless you’re going to be punching some demon plants or dealing with a particularly annoying herbamancer…”[/color] Henri said with a chuckle. [color=cyan]”You don’t sound rude at all. Imagine all the staring that this thing brings.”[/color] Leith picked up a large rock on the path and showed it to Henri. [color=cyan]”Simply put, it’s a demon made gauntlet that fused to my arm, oh, about a year ago. Sure, it might be bulky, but.”[/color] Leith closed his hand around the rock and squeezed. He turned his hand over and opened it. Fine dust fell from the gauntlet. [color=cyan]”It has its uses.”[/color] Leith grinned. [color=cyan]”Now it’s my turn to ask a question. What branch of mageblood do you have?”[/color] They had arrived at the training grounds. Other than the two of them, it was empty. A demon gauntlet, he said? Henri himself couldn’t think on using such bulky and unwieldy thing… Much less having it [i]fused[/i] to his arm… The added strength was an extra but on Henri’s oppinion? Not worth the hassle… His thing was much more agility and dexterity than brute strength. [color=ed1c24]“It looks… unwieldly and uncomfortable… Well… at least it makes you stronger.”[/color] Henri said, still looking at the big and weird gauntlet. As they arrived on the training grounds, Henri was grateful that they were the only ones there. It was actually pretty rare for it to be empty like that. [color=ed1c24]“Me? Aeromancy. It’s actually very nice when i use it together with my daggers when i worked on the circus to give my numbers a bit more suspense and… well I have some tricks up my sleeve in case things get ugly.”[/color] Henri said with a mischievous smirk. [color=ed1c24]“It has actually saved me from some pretty troublesome situations already.”[/color] Henri said, as he raised his hand, making the end of one of the long silk bandages wrapped around his arm form a spiral with a current of wind. [color=cyan]”I don’t doubt that. My magic has ended up saving my life as well a few times, actually. And Aeromancy can be quite powerful. One of the guards here is an Aeromancer. There was a fight that broke out a while back, and to this day I have never seen anyone that large move that fast.”[/color] Leith shook his head. [color=cyan]”Anyway, do you need help setting up? I’d be happy to lend a [i]hand[/i]”[/color] Leith chuckled at his joke. [color=ed1c24]“No need to, I’m fine. It’s just my daily training routine. Something I always did since I started training on the circus. Thanks for the offer though. I would shake your hand, but I’m afraid that my hand will end up like that rock you turned into dust a few moments ago.”[/color] Henri said with a chuckle. [color=cyan]”You wound me, thinking that I don’t have the control to not crush your hand.”[/color] Leith said as he held a hand up to his chest. A smile on his face belying his words. [color=cyan]”Or that I am unable to use my other hand. Ah, oh well. I should get back to gardening. I hate leaving something unfinished.”[/color] He waved to Henri. [color=cyan]”Goodbye.”[/color] [color=ed1c24]“See you around, Leith. It’s always good to be able to meet someone I can trust. You don’t seem to be a bad person.”[/color] Henri said as he got five daggers from inside his clothes as he prepared himself to throw them at the target a few meters ahead of him. [/hider] Leith nodded as Keri walked away to find Lyn. The vampire could probably find her faster than he could. With a sigh, he turned back to the carriage. He grabbed the scabbard with his new sword inside. Six small pouches and a small sheath for the handle. It was an idea he had a few months ago to utilize his Hydromancy a bit more effectively. He removed his cloak and strapped to his back with the handle sticking over his right shoulder. He put his cloak back on and made sure his sword was hidden well enough. Satisfied, he left the carriage and made his way towards Ssarak, but from the way that the Esyire sighed and shortly after the other students stiffened up, he figured that Keri had let Ssarak know of the situation. Now that that problem had been dealt with, there was another problem that needed to be rectified. He looked down at the yellow gemmed ring on his hand and tapped it once. He needed to find Henri. The gem blinked as he turned around and walked into the crowd. Soon enough he heard a voice. [color=ed1c24]"I'm sorry, Helena. I don't think I'm in the mood to do anything right now. If you want to group with someone else I will certainly understand. You don't need to worry about me regarding the shapeshifter. After all, I'm not Keri's family. The only 'family' I ever had was the circus, which I was foolish enough to leave behind."[/color] Leith frowned. [i][color=cyan]What?[/color][/i] What did Keri say to Henri? He rubbed his forehead with a sigh. Maybe he should have been following the conversation in the carriage. No matter, he needed to make sure everyone was on the same page before they went out into the city. [color=cyan]"I'm glad that Keri thinks of me as family, but that's not what's happening. The college is being targeted. That makes you a target as well. It's being targeted by a shapeshifter, so they could become anyone. But before I say anything else, can you tell me, as best as you can, without bias or paraphrasing, what's going on right now? We have a situation right now and I believe this misunderstanding, or argument, or whatever it is will hinder us from working seamlessly against our enemies."[/color] [hr] [h2][color=C19a6b]Darius Jura[/color][/h2] Darius crossed his arms as the half elf walked away. He was sure that the woman would try and challenge Darius in the Grand Melee. He shrugged, oh well. He was still going to join anyway. Less people in his way. Ssarak declined the Grand Melee as well, and Althalus complained that he'd have to place his bet on Darius. Darius grinned and took a few coins out of his pocket and held them out to the man. [color=c19a6b]"And I expect you to place my bet as well. I cannot do it myself."[/color] He paused for a moment, eyeing Althalus carefully [color=c19a6b]"I expect to get my winnings back after the fights."[/color] Then Ssarak spoke telepathically with them and Darius sighed seeing the look on Althalus' face drop. He put the coins back in his pocket and folded his arms. [color=c19a6b]"What should we expect from this?"[/color] He muttered under his breath used his Aeromancy to carry his words to Ssarak. Too many ears to converse in normal tones.