Risaya tossed a stolen apple- her first meal of the day along with a half a loaf of bread, also stolen- up in the air and caught it again as it came down. She whistled a tune quietly to herself as she walked down the dusty country road. She took a bite out of the ripe apple and silently thanked the gods that there were plenty of farms where food could be obtained from in the area.

She continued walking for a while undisturbed by other wanderers or creatures of any kind, but as she neared another farm, she heard some sort of a commotion. With a flourish of her small pale hand, she produced a sharp dagger from somewhere up her sleeve. She crouched low to the ground and stealthily made her way to some bushes where she thought she might be able to get a look at what was going on without being seen. Having been trained by a life of running from authorities and angry townspeople, she thought she would be able to remain unseen.

She looked down at the farm yard with a puzzled frown on her face as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. A tall bearded man had his blade pressed to the neck of an older man he stood over. A young man and a young woman were there also. Risaya strained to make out what they were saying. She only heard that the tall, fierce looking man wanted to take the two younger people with him. Risaya's curiosity had been piqued, and rather than leaving and minding her own business like her better judgement told her she should have, she decided to stay and find out just exactly what was going on.

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I'm back!

Gareion chuckled loudly and lightly kicked Darkos` on the shoulder who was laying on the ground.

"She cares for you, but that doesn`t really appase her curiosity does it?" Gareion gazed at Rhiannon "Do you have any idea why two farmers children would be trained to be efficient fighters by their so called father? To protect themselves from orcs or to hunt? You must have thought that over and over, he has told you to shut up about the subject or has never answered? I`ll tell you why you are coming with me, you two and I have work to do, not to mention I can show you your true family... or whats left of it today"

He remarked with a cunning smirk as they were the only one`s left, the only one`s left to carry on the legacy and the bloodoath.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

"But what if this is my true family?" asked Rhiannon, and knelt down to help the man she had thought was her father for so many years off the ground. "Family isn't just people who are related to you, it's people you care about. And I do care. Why should I want to know my true family if they didn't care enough to know me first?"

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"Oh they did care a great deal, but it is very hard to take care of someone when you are dead and I am not leaving before the two of you are coming with me. Your family, bloodline had also a duty to perform and its up to you to do it"

Gareion said with a slight grin as he was getting annoyed by the girls persistant attitude, but they boy clearly had been shook far more deeply as he had not spoke or so it seemed.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Rivhon, contrare(sp) to the man's assumtions, was quite apposed to the idea of leaving the farm, and the man he knew as father. It didn't matter if he wasn't their biological father, he was his father at heart. He had cared for them, taught them, fed them, trained them, and showed them how to live a simple, yet happy life. For all of their lives. He was the only father Rivhon had ever known, and now, he was being pried to leave him. And his home. And he didn't like it one little bit.

"Why? Why should we come with you? Why should we leave this place? and this man, whom we know as father, and everything we have ever counted as home? And until you utter to me one sentence of clarifacation on this 'family' and 'bloodline' of ours, I don't see the action of budging one inch in my future any time soon." He instinctively moved closer to his sister, the protective older brother side to his hidden self coming out of hiding.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Contrary to her usual reaction to this, which was to assert that she was quite capable of taking care of herself, Rhiannon wrapped her fingers round her brother's arm, and pressed closer to him than usual. She felt quite lost in all this, and was having trouble meeting the stranger's eyes.

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The sleek gray stallion took off from the inn's stableyard, breaking into a full gallop. His cloak swirling behind him, Knyn leaned over his steed's neck. Thatched cottages flashed by in a blur, succeeded by acres of rolling farmland.

There could only be one reason Gareion would pay a visit to an isolated village such as this.

It had been years since Knyn had last spied upon Darkos's farm. If the commotion hadn't been stirring in the field, he couldn't have distinguished it from the other identical farmhouses. He spotted Gareion, older than he remembered but proud still, standing before two siblings.

He dismounted and strode rapidly down the hill. "The time has come," he stated flatly, his eyes roving from sister to brother and finally settling upon the ex-paladin.

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"Who are you?" demanded Rhiannon, more hostility in her voice than she meant. "Must we have strange visitors descend upon us all at once?" She realized her fingers were pressing tight into Rivhon's arm and relaxed her grip a little.

_________________

Rivhon, whispering his dry agreement to the question to his sister, put his hand on her's as he moved protectively infront of her, though not blocking her view to the strangers.

"Why have you come here? And by the stars if I do not get an explaination to what in the world this talk of 'our family' is, in the next ten seconds, I will split you into so many pieces you will no longer be reconizable by anyone!" He yelled, gripping his knife, turning his knuckles white.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Araerris kneeled on the ground, examining footprints she had been following for quite some time. She sighed, standing up and mounting her chestnut war stallion. Walking carefully, so as not to loose the trail, Araerris figured the tracks were at least a day old, and that she was finnally catching up to the one she had been tracking...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Amusement flickered in Knyn's gray eyes, but aside from that his impassive face registered nothing else. He tacitly appraised the two siblings. They seemed strong, prepared, and overall possessed of a sound resolve. If the old legends were true...

"You may call me Knyn," he introduced with a curt nod, making no move to sweep back his shadowing cowl. Neither did he proceed to answer their other questions, for he was uncertain what Gareion wished to conceal.

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Gareion sighed deeply and tapped on the handle of his sword, this wasn`t planned at all nor the scholars had mentioned about anyone else coming to the farm. He was a threat, he could not be trusted and the mission was endangered already. The unwillingness of the siblings, an intruder and the smirk on the face of Darkos began to boil Gareions blood.

"Knyn? You have no business here, beat it"

He asked as he examined the man, Gareion was very close of killing the two others and taking the two by force yet that would have been too risky. Gareion for now ignored the newcomer and the gazed at the twins. He took a step forward at them.

"You two must come with me at once, by coming here I have already attracted too much attention upon you and if you do not leave then more will find you. When they find you they will either kill or imprison you, you two have a meaning and I shall not let you throw it away! You come with me now or I shall have you both taken by force and I am not alone..."

He threatened should they refuse any longer.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Rivhon looked warily from his sister to the man, and then back once again, until his eyes fell upon the man. His strong defence was begining to fall, but was not gone. He stepped closer,

"We will come with you," He paused, "If, and only if you tell us what our 'purpose' is, and what remains of this 'family' of ours." Rivhon knew that they would never stand up against more than five well-trained people, even though they themselves were well-trained. He cast a glance at Rhiannon, trying to figure how she would react to this...

_________________
You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

"Good, but I can only come halfway to your request for this is not a safe place to speak of it..."

Gareion said with a clear ease in his voice as they would finally be willing to come with him, but as he spoke he shot a glance at Knyn telling him, if he tried to follow or interefe, even speak of this meeting he would be dead.

_________________

Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

Biting her lip, Rhiannon hung back a little. "I - I don't want to," she said in a low voice, looking at Darkos, and then at Rivhon. But she slowly went to her brother, and added to his condition - "Our weapons are in the house. Surely you would not expect us to go without them?"

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Rivhon looked to his sister with sympathy, and then nodded his agreement to her question at the man. He then went back by his sister, who was obviously more than a little frightened, and made it wo their shoulders mad contact with each other. It was a way they showed care, sympathy, or just playfullness ever sense they were small childeren.

"I agree with my sister. We would need the weapons we have trained with for so long, would we not?"

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen