The Soldier of Fortune

[Rayl Torien]

OOC: When I read your post Alcibie, I suddenly heard the JAWS theme in the background... *shudders*

Hearing his name, Rayl turned his head to address the person with oddly familiar voice, and immediately his calm demeanor was shattered, and the color seemed to flee from his face. He DID have an unsettling feeling when he set foot into this tavern, and his instinct was to dart out the door and take off like a horse in a thunderstorm, but instead stood his ground: he was done running.

Rising to his feet, a smile on his face in an obviously foolish attempt to conceal his terror, he made his way to the cleric, and gave a polite bow," I'm sorry my dear hostess, but I no longer drink." with this, he reached for the coin purse at his hip, which was still pretty hefty ( a nice part of being a knight), and set it down on the counter,"Just because we know each other does not mean that we deserve any special treatment. This will cover the cost of our rooms."

Heck I should be treated like dirt for the things I've done...

He was speaking in a hushed tone as to not attract the attention and imminent tackle of his good friend Night, then looked to Garnet," You should check up on Fargo, I'd like to speak with our hostess in private..."

Well, looks like I get to take care of the hard part first...

[Garnet]

Garnet was surprised when the proprietress knew who Rayl was. Rayl had covered their rooms again, but he apparently didn't want special treatment otherwise.

"We'll discuss the prices of the drinks after your talk." The merc said to the hostess. He nodded in thanks to Rayl for covering their rooms again before moving off. After all, Fargo did look uncomfortable over by the wall.

The Merc approached the bowman, handing him the drink. "Very charitable people here. They were going to give us all a free drink, but I suppose Rayl disapproved of that." He sat down in a booth along the wall with a good view of a curiously battered window.

[Fargo]

Fargo was surprised by Garnet sudden appearance. For a moment, he had thought that the dark haired man had noticed him. But the young archer relaxed, seeing it was only a friend. Gratefully, Fargo said, "Thanks man." He took a sip of what he thought was water, when he suddenly knew it wasn't. Fargo almost blew the liquid out of his mouth, had he not controlled his sudden gag reflex. The archer had no idea what he put in his mouth, so it wasn't too weird that he almost covered a section of the wall with it.

He then toughened up, and drank the liquid (that was still in his mouth, remarkably). It didn't taste bad, but at the same time, he still wasn't sure what it was. The young man tried to speak, but coughed into his shoulder pad. He then inhaled deeply, now being able to breathe. Then, Fargo let out a sigh, and asked the mercenary, slightly with a cough, "Hey, Garnet, what’s -cough- this, anyways?" He continued coughing for a bit, and finally cleared his throat. Fargo suddenly felt much better than he did before. He peered down into the cup, waiting for a response from the mercenary.

[Garnet]

Garnet looked over at Fargo as he heard the young man coughing. The bowman asked what the drink was and Garnet suddenly realized, he didn't know. The woman at the counter had called it-

"-an apothecary mix." Garnet was a little concerned, but mostly just amused at Fargo's reaction. "I'm sorry, I should have thought before just handing you a drink....Truth is, I'm not really sure what it is. If someone hands me a drink I normally take it. I wouldn't worry though. The The people here seem to know Sir Rayl." He hoped it was in a good way.

Garnet raised his own mug to his lips and tasted. A pronounced flavor of malt and caramel assaulted his tongue. "Looks like a bit'a red ale for me."

(OoC: Yes, I do research tastes before I post. Go Wiki!)

[Alcibie]

OOC: Don’t worry she will only maim you ^-^

“Oh believe me Cavalier, if I did not think my husband would come over here and whine about his boss, I would personally be tearing you limb from limb.” Alcibie smiled and though her face and posture were perfectly open and friendly her aura was dark and menacing.

“Follow me,” Alcibie motioned and lead Rayl over towards some of the side doors. Alcibie grabbed some herbs along with her mortar and pestle. Using probably more force than necessary the cleric crushed all the remedy ingredients together very effectively.

“I swear to god, I already have one five year old, having my husband jumping around telling his tales of adventure with you like a five year old is more than enough. I do not need to start a fight like one.” Alcibie continued to mumble pulverizing the herbs into a nice paste. She looked up ignoring Rayl for a second to check on his compatriot. The young archer was looking much better and Alcibie let out a sigh allowing a small smile break over her face. She growled at herself and slammed the mortar and pestle down.

“I am going to say this once.” Alcibie spoke knowing that she probably looked more like an angry mother than else. “You and Persephone showed up when I was going to do something really bad. What I was planning then…well you stopped it and I would not have what I have now because of you two. That does not mean I forgot the crap you pulled with Myra and I have not forgot the fact that I swore up and down to kill you afterwards.” Alcibie paused grabbing the mortar and pestle back up. She was staring at Night and a door.

“Don’t think you get out of it either. No one else can kill you but me.” Alcibie declare glaring over at the Cavalier.

[Rayl Torien]

Rayl let himself be dragged aside, and listened to her words, oozing with venom. They stung, truly they did, the expression on his face made it quite clear as he began to formulate how he would make his apology, and yet still keep a shred of dignity. After a brief moment, he began his own little monologue, "...I deserve that Alcibie, truly I do. I'm not proud of what happened in Bern...I'm not proud of a lot of things. I thought that being a knight...well, maybe it was just my being drunk on power...and various alcoholic beverages...not proud of that either." he paused, eyes downcast.

"...But I have been trying to make amends for past mistakes, truly I have. The reason I came back to Laus was to thank many of those who helped me in the past. People who's aid I took for granted. I began this path shortly after that final encounter in Bern, but it was meeting you and Night back in Pherae that made me decide to began this journey: To find those I had wronged, and ask for forgiveness." this was it: the point where he would ask the cleric to pardon his past errors, but as he opened his mouth to finish his speech...

...He paused, this part was the hardest, but nonetheless he had to get it done, " Now I know that you can never forget what I did, nor can or should you forgive me anytime soon...but I hope that in time you will come to see that I have been taking strides to atone for my past mistakes." he finished, felt a small amount of the burden lifted from his shoulders for having got that off his chest, but the biggest part of the guilt would only be lifted when she would forgive him, whenever that would be in the future.

[Alcibie]

“You don’t get it.” Alcibie stated automatically deflating and slumping into the wall behind her. “I already have.” The cleric wanted to bang her head against the wall. “When I saw you in that Stupid pastry shop, I was Happy to see You. Then half way home I remember you were the traitor who sold out Myra. Can you believe I had honestly forgotten that? Oh that’s not because of any of your redeeming, but that moron over there will not shut up about you.” Alcibie jutted her thumb out towards her husband who was doing god knows what over around the bar.

“Don’t you say anything bad about him either, I married him and we have a kid. God if that did not change things. He demands she refer to you as Uncle Rayl. I guess having my own kids run around screaming your name with her dad kind of changed my opinion on you. Though, now that you’re back I guess I can hold you for all those crimes you committed. Especially since you stopped drinking what were you thinking?” Alcibie smirked and walked off.

[Fargo]

Fargo continued to cough a little, as Garnet spoke. He finally was able to get enough breath in his lungs to clear his throat well enough to speak. "Well," the young archer began, "This diffidently doesn't taste quite like... that." The archer had paused midsentence, not sure of what to say. Fargo had never tasted red ale before, and didn't want to. His parents raised him not drinking, and that was how he intended to live.

He began to sip on the strange 'mix', now expecting what it would taste like. In full honesty, it wasn't half bad. Fargo was grateful to Garnet, but he was still confused.

The young archer began again, sounding very confused. "So, wait, someone Rayl knows made me this?" Fargo also thought to himself, finishing the sentence, Why would someone make me something like this? The person must, like, be an angel to everyone or something. While he continued to drink the apothecary mix, the feeling in the archer's behind seemed to vanish out of mind completely.

[Rayl Torien]

When Alcibie said that she had forgiven him, Rayl was honestly shocked, again the expression obvious upon him. She then begun to talk about her family, and that NIGHT (of all people) was the one who did it for him. He couldn't help but chuckle after that, before commenting," Night's a good man, all drunken brawling aside. He's obviously a great father to your daughter, a great husband to yourself, and a great friend to me." a nod of his head, before he followed Alcibie out: he wasn't done talking to her yet, there were some things he wanted to talk with her about.

" Alcibie, have you heard anything from Persephone? What about Jya?" Out of everyone he met on his adventures of years past, they were the only two people who he never knew the fate of, and had good reason of wanting to know. Rayl had considered Jya like a daughter, and enjoyed how playful she was despite her situation...

As for Persephone...well...

[Alcibie]

Alcibie almost faltered with her steps. She had completely lost track of Jya, though she thought she saw the girl around every corner. The cleric had learned the Pegasus Knight’s supposed state years ago. Thank God she had learned to lie through her teeth years ago, plus she was a pretty good diverter too.

“I have not heard anything from Persephone in years.” Alcibie stated spinning around to him. Not a lie. Lilly must be rubbing off on her. “Jya though, she was so cute! I want her to meet Lilly I think they would be good friends.” Alcibie smiled walking back towards the counter. “Though if Jya brought a rat in here…” The cleric shuddered and began grabbing things from all over preparing to make drinks again.

[Night]

3...2...1... The cry of "BOSS!" echoed through the bar as Night, now serving drinks, litterally launched himself over the counter to trap Rayl in a death hug. "WELCOME TO MY BAR!" he shouted in the knights ear.

[Rayl Torien]

"Uggh...saw that coming..." after prying himself out of knight's grip and getting gulps of fresh air, Rayl took a moment to survey the bar, before nodding his head," I'm guessing you do a good job cleaning the place of ruffians." thoughts of Night's crazed battle style would probably make him the greatest bouncer of all time...

"Well, it's good to see you all made a living for yourselves...wait a minute, where are my manners: allow me to introduce you to my comrades here...they decided to tag along when I headed for Laus in the first place." with this, he lead the two to (OOC: lol?) to Fargo and Garnet (for the others had not seemed to enter yet)," These two are Garnet and Fargo. Fargo is the young man who you so graciously cured from riding sickness. Garnet here is a mercenary from Etruria." Rayl wasn't going to say more, judging from how Garnet acted out when they spoke in the stables.

[Fargo]

If Garnet had said anything, Fargo probably didn't hear. The booming voice that shouted, "BOSS!" was suddenly ringing in his ears. Being so easily frightened, he had jumped up. The archer suddenly looked around, not knowing where the loud voice came from. Fargo then saw the dark haired man, and decided to do his best to ignore him. He was still shaken by the first shout, when another great roar came crashing into his eardrums; "WELCOME TO MY BAR!" Again, the young man jumped, now very intimidated. He wasn't used to such a loud conversation. During his time, Fargo wasn't sure how the mercenary next to him had reacted. The only good part about the yelling was that the archer already drank his entire beverage, so he didn't drowse himself with any of the apothecary mix.

As the young man stood, whole body shaking slightly, he could hear Rayl say something behind him. He turned around, and saw two other people; a very attractive lady, and the dark haired man. When the young archer heard the cavalier indicating who he was, Fargo simply waved his right hand. The dark haired man, whose name he did not know, scared the archer. He wasn't sure if he should run, or just simply faint. Either way, Fargo knew that if the man started yelling again, he would probably bolt for the door.

[Garnet]

Garnet smiled and stood as Sir Rayl introduced him.

"I'm glad to meet such good friends of Sir Rayl, especially when they can provide such tasteful fare." He said, holding up his mug.

He glanced around the room, trying to get a better feel for the location. There was a large crowd gathered around the fireplace.

Garnet was set at ease by the thought that he was done traveling tonight. He supposed that the drink probably contributed to his relaxation as well.

"It'd be nice to know the names of our hosts." He said, after a moment.

[Alcibie]

Alcibie knew it was going to happen, but to see it happen. Night launched himself across the room at Rayl, and Alcibie slapped herself in the face. He was like a kid.

“Pft…” Alcibie tried to stop herself, but she ended up doubling over in laughter at her husband and his boss. They were idiots. Then Rayl tried to introduce her to his companions, but Night was pretty distracting.

“My name is Alcibie, I’m a healer and the one who usually is behind the counter.” Alcibie bowed politely and smiled, no sense in scaring them yet. She would leave that until later.