At the Base of the Hills

[Gia Trakana]

Around the base of the hills the foliage is a bit denser in places, with bushes that normally stand around four feet tall, small flowering trees, and tall grass. All in all the bushes block the wind that can sometimes carry grains of sand from the dessert, and they make great hiding places for children that join their parents for a picnic. Or if you are trying to give someone the slip just duck behind a bush while they are not looking, and slowly make your way to others before you are caught. The blossoms that grace the lower half and base of the hills are more fragile then the ones that adorn the top. Their colors are pale pinks, blues, and purples, and pure young girls pick them to decorate their hair.

[Devanus Zeller]

Not many things scared Devanus. None of the classic fears bothered him; heights, water, the dark, spiders, closed spaces, open spaces, even public speaking, while not his favourite activity, did not fill him with dread. He was as afraid of death as the next man, but no more; his work necessitated he at least be comfortable with the subject, if not the possibility of it happening to him. Years of reckless exploration and even more reckless experimentation had rendered him fearless when it came to physical injury, and his ease at making friends and acquaintances made the loss of a companion no great deal either. No, if you were going to scare Devanus Zeller, you had to try pretty hard.

This place scared him. There was no normal reason for it; it was an innocent-looking glade, filled with bushes and flowers. No dangerous wildlife bar the odd stinging insect, and nothing about the terrain or the flora to give any ordinary person even the slightest of pauses. Of course, it was not the idyllic nature of the place that Devanus feared, no, it was what it represented. Devanus truly feared only the past, and this place was littered with memories. Days of racing his friends up the hills, playing hide-and-seek in the bushes, and picking flowers to dye their clothes and infuriate their parents. They were happy memories of a simpler time, and that made Dev fear them all the more.

Yet here he was, sitting with his legs drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, chin resting on one knee, staring out into the field. Small as he was, Devanus was practically invisible among the tall grass and flanked by bushes. If he was going to come to this place, he had tried to reason to himself, he may as well practice his sneaking skills while he was at it. Thus far, he had gone completely unnoticed by two children who had run right past him, and had successfully resisted the urge to jump out and scare the daylights out of them. It was a childish urge, but not a malicious one. Devanus missed those days, of caring of nothing but where the next adventure was going to be, and how many of his friends he could bring along.

The sound of rustling grass nearby told Devanus he was no longer alone. Glancing around without moving, he could see nothing. It could have been a rabbit, it could have been more children come to play; right now he did not know, and nor did he care. Reaching down, Devanus picked idly at the grass at his fingertips. He did not really know why he kept coming back to this place. He told himself it was because facing fears was important, but he did not feel any stronger for exposing himself to this particular one. The memories did not fade and Devanus did not really want them to. He wanted to remember a happier time, even if they made the inevitable recollection of what had happened next all the more painful.

[Devanus Zeller]

The rustling was not going away, but it was also not being accompanied with voices, which meant it was only one person. It was behind him now, and getting closer. Devanus wanted to turn to look, but the grass here was so dry that even that simple action would have made noise he did not want to transmit. The odds of this person being hostile were remote, of course, but given where his mind had been drifting, it was little surprise that he was paranoid. Ever-so-slowly, Devanus slipped a hand off of his legs, sliding it up his sleeve to reach for the blade he had secured against his arm. Just as fingers touched steel, however, flesh contacted flesh, and Devanus found himself staring at a young woman that had fallen over his back and was now lying on the grass in front of him.

At the sight of her sword, Devanus grabbed the hilt of the dagger, feeling the adrenaline flood through him almost immediately as he prepared to spring to his feet and put an end to this before she could bring herself back to bear. At her apology, however, he faltered, releasing his grip and standing up much more slowly. He was just paranoid; she had not come here for him. She could have been lying, he supposed, but her surprise had been genuine, and her face hadn't looked aggressive when she'd laid eyes on what she had tripped over. He was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Extending a hand to help her up, Devanus offered a smile. "No problem, I'm easy to miss. I'm Devanus."

On the ground as she was, it was easy for Dev to give this girl a once-over. She was dressed very oddly; there seemed to be belts almost everywhere and Devanus questioned whether any of them actually served a function. Her boots in particular drew his attention; not exactly what one walked through the fields in. All in all, she looked rather like she had stepped out of a storybook, though if he had to guess, he would have put her of Deproeliorian origin. The fact she carried a sword also contributed to this theory.

If that was true, what was she doing out here? The warrior city was several days by horse, and much longer on foot, and Devanus could neither see, hear, nor smell a beast of burden nearby. He supposed it was possible she was here for the festival - that would explain her odd garb - but then why did she need a sword? And why was she walking around in the middle of a field with it? There were a lot of questions, and Devanus intended to ask them, but he really had to start with her name first. He could go from there.

[Devanus Zeller]

When Ruby, as she informed him she was called, ignored his hand, Dev shrugged and folded his hands back into his sleeves. His top half was very robe-like, though he had lowered his hood before coming out today. It was a little warm on a day like today, but it allowed for all sorts of hidden pockets that a man like Devanus would make use of. From the waist down, however, he wore well-fitting pants more traditional of his city; all the better to run with. Both were, quite naturally, the same colour as the tall, dry grass in which he had been sitting. An excellent camoflauge, though it had originally been utter coincedence.

He had to laugh at Ruby's question, offering her a shrug. "Why not? I might equally ask why someone that feels the need to carry a weapon is wandering about in fields where children play. But, maybe you don't know that. I don't think you're from around here. I've never seen you before, and in that getup, I'd remember." Dev was still betting on Dep, but would not have put money on it. He might well have wagered on it not being Laknos, however; he knew the streets and its people well. Ruby would have rather stood out. Laknos was still a city of peace; someone who carried a weapon around - and was aware of it enough to check on it periodically as she just had - was either not a citizen or a member of the guard, and Devanus would definitely have known if she was the latter. He'd spent enough time avoiding them to know all their faces on sight.

Realizing that he had not, in fact, answered her question, and had more over made slight fun at the way she was dressed, Devanus continued. "I like it out here. It's quiet, especially with the festival still going on. Helps me think. What's your excuse?" Almost as soon as the words were out of Devanus' mouth, he wondered what had gotten into him. He was not being precisely rude, but certainly more abrasive than he normally was. Maybe his mind had been wandering a little too long. Shaking his head to clear it, Devanus set about putting at least part of that right.

"I'm sorry, evidently you caught me on a bad day. Let's try that again from the top. I'm Devanus, I'm from Laknos, and I come to relax. What about you?" There, that was much better. Now she was considerably less likely to draw that sword on him. Not that Devanus was scared of the idea - even if he couldn't match blades with her, he had other tricks literally up his sleeves - but he disliked fighting unless it was work. That, after all, was just business. This was personal.

[Devanus Zeller]

Well, he had certainly gotten off on the right foot with this woman. She was being short with him, and perhaps rightly so. It didn't really matter, of course, he doubted she had come out to a remote field to make friends, and he certainly hadn't; if anything he had come out to think on his own and relax a little, even if all he had managed was the former. Still, here she was, and he was going to make the most of it, even if it seemed that the conversation was going to end almost before it began.

The woman was certainly curious. She had given no facial expression at all during the conversation, and her tone had been utterly flat. It reminded Devanus of the fantasy stories of robots and humanoid machines that looked like people, but were only wires and metal on the inside. Ridiculous of course, but in his head he was already giving her a nickname, should he ever cross paths with her again. She was also not giving him even the most basic information about her origin, which he found if not suspicious, at least concerning. Her last comment about leaving the city definitely confirmed Devanus' suspicions that she was not born here, but he was no closer to picking out which of the other cities she had come from. That much she did not want to tell him, though, so he would have to come at it from a different angle.

"Where are you headed?" Devanus did not exactly expect a straight answer, but it was a question worth asking. He was now doubtful that she was here for the festival, if she 'had time'. The festivities were ongoing as they spoke. No, she was here for some other purpose, though Devanus hadn't the faintest clue what. Not that it was really any of his business, but like any curious person, Devanus was all the more interested because it was being withheld from him. He was curious mostly in the exploratory sense, but there was a personal side to it, and it was coming out now.

The wind was picking up now, snaking its way through the lining of Devanus's robes and coiling around his fingers as they slid along the blades of the daggers lining his forearms. It was cold, pleasantly so in the general warmth of the day, but it made Devanus slightly twitchy. It also carried with it the silence that Devanus had come out here for. He was - and now they were - completely alone.

[Devanus Zeller]

Well, would wonders never cease? He had actually gotten an answer to his question, and a direct one at that. Not only that, she had offered a bit of extra information; she was looking for someone. She had not found them here, evidently, and would search Deproelior next. Had he guessed wrong after all? Had she originated in Aurora Valley? Or had she merely failed to include the word 'back' in her sentence? There was no way to tell, and Ruby certainly wasn't offering him any more clues.

Before he could gather himself enough to ask her something else, Ruby started talking again, and Devanus found himself surprised at her observational skills. The story he was about to give her would of course be a lie, and a practiced one, but the laugh that preceded it was genuine. Unlike Ruby, who had worn much the same expression since he had met her, Devanus had an animated face, and saw no reason to hide his amusement and surprise at her perception. Giving one of his sleeves a shake, Devanus loosened one of the flasks that hung next to his bicep, pulling it out and holding it up for Ruby's inspection.

"I'm an alchemist, actually. An amateur one, mind you, but one nonetheless. It's more taxing on the hands than one would think; grinding of powders and chopping of roots and so on. Not to mention, when things go haywire, your hands are generally taking the brunt of the blast." He offered another shrug, tossing the flask from hand to hand before holding it out again. "Consider this my sword, if you will. Insurance to keep me safe while I'm out here. You never know when a blade of grass might decide to turn hostile." Sometimes, Devanus liked starting bush fires with his potions, but he only did that during the wet season, or when he had a supply of water. Setting a fire bomb off where he stood would have eradicted most of the field, and likely him along with it if he did not stand clear of the blast.

Whether Ruby knew it or not, the more she talked, the more Devanus was beginning to piece together his own picture of her. She had seen what he was doing with his hands, and that was not an easy thing to do in his wide-sleeved robes. Clearly, her eye had been trained for such things. Was she in his line of work too, or simply someone practiced at fending for her life? The fondness her hand had for her sword hilt suggested to him she definitely knew how to use it, but that did not particularly narrow the field down. The fact that she was looking for someone for an unspecified reason also hinted at potential mercenary, as did her lack of specification on where she was actually from or eventually going.

The problem with that theory, of course, was that if it was accurate, then she would surely deny it if he voiced it, so he would have to go another route. "You're very observant, Ruby." Calculating as well, given her swift, out-loud run through of his possible occupations. "But what of your trade then? You're armed, and well, but so could any fool be. Not just any fool would carry herself that way, though, not with a blade like that." Though he preferred short blades, Devanus knew his arms, and he had never seen a sword like Ruby's before. "No, you've used it. A soldier then? I think not, unless either Deproelior or Aurora Valley have relaxed their army dress code and granted extensive furloughs to go 'looking for someone'. No, not soldier." That really only left mercenary, but Devanus had met mercenaries before, and while they were certainly as cold as Ruby (generally speaking), they all carried with them a sense of purpose; some reason for selling their swords. With Ruby, Devanus was blanking; her body language was giving him nothing, and so he was forced to discard that theory too. What did that leave?

As he was speaking, Devanus searched Ruby's face, looking for some hint when he mentioned an occupation to confirm or deny it. She was a mystery, that was certain, and now that she was actually talking to him, he could give a good try at figuring it out. "Of course, I too may be just imagining things." Devanus was stumped, and he was going to need something, anything to go on to get any farther than this. Instead of trying, he changed topics. "Who are you looking for? I know my way around; perhaps I know who they are?" It was a long shot, of course, but Devanus was much more interested in knowing. That was a clue, and if nothing else, it was a talking point. Who and why, but the why would have to come later.

[Devanus Zeller]

Good, this was good. It seemed that all Ruby needed was more than a few seconds of conversation and she was answering in full sentences that actually contained information. More information than Devanus could have possibly anticipated, in fact; Ruby had just admitted to having amnesia, and given a very specific date too. Four years ago. She was a mercenary of sorts, at least in the sense that she was being paid to act as a guard, but this certainly explained why he couldn't get any sort of read on her; she didn't know who she was either. Devanus felt considerably better about his ignorance now that he knew that Ruby shared in it.

The name of the man she was looking for was not a new one to Devanus. Kaddril was something of a legend among swordsmen, and Devanus could hardly have lived in Laknos all his life without hearing the man's name. Devanus had never met him, though; all of his skills with a blade were self-taught and learned out of necessity. As such, he could not be much help. "Well, you're in the right place, at least. He does live here." Devanus knew as much as the next man about the teacher; he had been born in Deproelior, and moved to Laknos some years before. Devanus didn't know why, nor did he really care to.

What Devanus did find interesting was that Ruby, having presumably never having met Yerm, was under the impression that he might help her remember who she was. Was she originally from Deproelior too? Who or what had put that idea in her head? There was nothing for it but to ask. "Do you know him, then? Or I guess, did you before you lost your memory?" In a way, Devanus was envious. What he wouldn't have given to only know the last four years of his life, and forget all the rest. Then again, without his past, he never would have been here in this field, and would have not run into Ruby to become envious of that, so it was something of a circular desire.

Replacing the flask he had taken out back up his sleeve, Devanus abruptly realized that the two of them had been carrying on this conversation standing up in the middle of a field totally needlessly. And with that realization, he promptly sat back down. "Unless you're about to run off, you may as well sit. No sense standing up when there's perfectly good grass to sit on. Also harder to trip over strangers from down here." Devanus' mood was improving now that he was not dwelling, and his sense of humour was creeping back into his speech.

[Devanus Zeller]

Talking with Ruby seemed to be having a sort of snowball effect. First she gave him one word, then two, then four, and now she was up to needing to take breaths in between. Not that Devanus was complaining, mind you, it was just interesting to watch. She was even starting to relax a little, which was good; Devanus would have commented that she was uptight, but he didn't feel like having her taking a swing at him to prove the point.

As she went on, Devanus found himself growing less envious of her position. He knew the feeling she spoke of, and it was infuriating. He could only imagine how she felt dealing with that all the time, and especially when it was not just a word, but her whole life that was on the edge of her mind, but refusing to be pushed over. It was not a crazy idea that she was carrying around, or at least not as crazy as it had first apppeared. After four years of it, Devanus supposed he would be clinging onto anything that even remotely resembled a clue.

"So have you travelled all over then? No one's recognized you from before? You had to come from somewhere, so presumably there are some people out there who know who you are." Admittedly, it was not inconceivable that Ruby had just not run into them, but surely they would have been looking for her. "Are you even sure of your name, or did you make that up when you came to or whatever?" Devanus was purely curious now; if he could have helped, he would have, but he was no good to her, and now he was just going to satisfy his curiosity, at least as much as she let him get away with, which seemed to be more and more.

The fact that what little Ruby did remember was triggered by swordplay was not surprising to Devanus. Sense memory was often far more powerful than just regular recall. A lot of his memories could be triggered by a smell, a sound, or a particular action. In fact, it was the sight of the grass swaying in the breeze earlier that had set him off today. "You look like a fighter to me, that's for sure. Suggests that you're from Dep, but doesn't guarantee it." Admittedly, most of Deproelior's fighters were men, but Devanus would still have bet on any given warrior being from there over Laknos or Aurora Valley.

Devanus was not lacking in a good imagination either, and was speculating with what little Ruby had told him, though he was not going to voice it aloud. With those memories, his best guess was that she had been part of a travelling caravan, which had been attacked by bandits. She had been...knocked out, perhaps? And had woken up later with a block on that memory. Of course, blunt trauma was only one option; the brain had a whole host of situations in which it would block the past all on its own. "How does it make you feel when you fight? It is fun? Exciting? Terrifying?" The last seemed like a throwaway comment, especially with how comfortable she was with the sword, but he had to ask.

[Devanus Zeller]

Devanus nodded slowly at Ruby's explanation of her name. He was hardly surprised that she hadn't remembered her own, and that certainly helped the fact that she hadn't yet been found by anyone that might have been looking for her. Who knew what she was actually called, but it was surely more imaginative than what she had right now. He had nearly let the thought go when it occurred to him that she had said she had been given the name. Given by whom? Perhaps this merchant that she'd become a bodyguard for? Or someone else, someone that had originally happened upon her when she had appeared after having lost her memory. Ruby did not seem inclined to say, which Devanus let slide, but filed away as a curiosity.

Having never actually been to Deproelior in his life, Devanus had always assumed that the stereotype of everyone walking around in armour all the time was overblown. To hear Ruby tell it, however, it seemed that it actually was that way. She didn't look particularly weak to Dev's eyes, but he was going to take her word for it on that particular score. "Do you have any idea where you're originally from them?" If his speculation was that far off, then he wanted to know what Ruby's opinion was. Surely after four years she had something of a guess. Was it possible she hailed from none of the cities at all?

After asking his question about combat, Devanus sharpened his gaze, wanting to catch every conscious and unconscious reaction to this one. The truth lay not in what she did remember, but what her body did. She drew into herself, and when she looked at him it was with a solemn face. She clearly had not liked the question, which to Devanus meant he was going down exactly the right path. Her answer, too, interested him. Sadness was the mark of a burden. What exactly that meant, he wasn't sure, but it forced him to re-align his options. She was a curious cross; comfortable with her weapon when all else failed, and yet she did not enjoy its use. Devanus could relate in part; he took no true joy in death, but his was a more mercantile approach. He was nothing more than a living blade, responsible for the lives he took and yet not. It was just work, as much as anything else was. Yet, unlike her, he was not sad. She was sad. Why?

Devanus was starting to find himself running out of questions he could ask that she might have an answer to. Whatever else Ruby had picked up in four years of memory, conversation had not been on that list. Thus far, it had really only gone the one way. He did not mind terribly, but it did mean that they lapsed into these silences when he was trying to figure out any way to get something else resembling a clue. Ruby was a puzzle, to be sure, and Devanus welcomed the distraction. "In my experience, most people don't ever come anywhere close to being the best they could ever be. Myself included, mind." He offered a light shrug as a concession. "Anyone who is in a position to be killed is already heading to the other end of the scale anyway."

[Devanus Zeller]

Only four years of memories and she's giving me a lesson in human psychology. Devanus had to crack a smile at Ruby's comments. He had, of course, heard much the same. The difference was that Devanus' personality naturally led him to interact with people. He was an apprentice alchemist, more than capable of running the store by himself. He was always out, talking to people and being generally social. The only times he was really alone were when he went home, when he went hunting, and days like today, when the overload became too much.

"I spend all day, every day in the city, around people. It would be pretty hard to give me a better offer than that, but sometimes you need some time to yourself. This place is quiet and peaceful. Almost makes you forget there's a war going on. In some ways, I'd rather be a citizen of Aurora Valley or Deproelior than Laknos. At least they know who the enemy is." In reality, Devanus knew he was blessed to live in the more-or-less peaceful city, but some days he worried that that peace was really just at the whim of one man. Lord Bohren had kept them safe all his life, but he was old. Surely, he was tired of the neutrality. Devanus did not know if he could have held out for three decades. He probably would have just picked a side and been done with it. At least then, the war would have moved toward something resembling an ending.

Ruby's comment about herself did not surprise Devanus. She certainly didn't look like she fit into city life, or at least not any city life he was aware of. In Laknos, and presumably in the other cities as well, everyone dressed more or less alike, and none of them dressed like Ruby did. With the way she was handling her sword, even sheathed, she might have fit in with a military, but as she had pointed out herself, her dress again made her stand out. That raised a question. "Okay, I have to ask. What's with the get-up anyway? I'm guessing those are clothes you showed up with, but you haven't bought anything new in four years? You do rather stand out."

[Devanus Zeller]

I think I struck a nerve. Devanus thought to himself with a smile. Ruby could very easily have left it at the first half of her response, and Devanus would have called that fair enough, but she instead came to her own defense against an attack that Devanus had not intended to make. It was not actually on him, but rather obviously a rebuke against a long build-up of awkward staring and whispered comments. He certainly agreed with her that he preferred when it was aloud rather than in secret, but he could hardly blame people for talking. Whatever she wanted to call it, she did dress oddly, and people were wont to notice that. Moreover, carrying around a weapon like hers in the open would have definitely discouraged them from saying anything directly to her face. Like it or not, if she was going to defy societal convention, she was going to be judged on it.

The only reaction that Devanus allowed Ruby to see was a simple nod of agreement. Quite frankly, nothing else would have been worth the effort. Ruby was evidently stubborn and set in her ways and Devanus knew better than to try and step in the way of that. Unfortunately, he found that it left him with nothing to say. He had asked Ruby every question that he could think of and really didn't have anywhere else to go. He couldn't learn any more than she had, and there was obviously much she was not telling him. That was her right to privacy, Dev supposed, but it was still quite frustrating.

When Devanus had gotten to the field, he had seated himself in such a way that the sun had been behind him. Now, he found that he could hardly look in Ruby's direction because the sun was getting so low behind her. You have been out here all day. You really should eat something. The voice in the back of his head was highly sensible, and Devanus' stomach appeared to agree. He had to get back to the city and get dinner.

Pushing himself up, Devanus brushed the grass and dust off of his clothes, pausing to stretch out his sore limbs. What would have been a quick workout for a normal person, Devanus turned into a full set of simple exercises, making sure that he was properly limber. It was a force of habit, mostly, but it was not one that he was in any hurry to break. "I'm going to head back to the city. I haven't eaten anything all day, and I need to remedy that." He worked a kink out of his shoulder and turned away, only to pause, struck by an idea. "Are you staying in Laknos tonight? If you're not going to the festival, you can come to dinner with me if you like." Perhaps she would open up some more with food. It would certainly not be the first time that had worked out for Devanus.