The Heist [Open]

[Skye Asherei]

"Stop, you thief! You brat!" The woman yelled angrily, chasing the boy as he ran for the nearest exit of the small restaurant.

Realizing that she was getting too close, Skye pulled the cape-like jacket he was wearing off of his back as he made it to the door, revealing his black wings as he quickly took to the air.

The woman stopped running, her eyes widening in shock as he lifted off the ground. Skye didn't look back, but he heard the woman give off what sounded like a disbelieving scream.

Not wanting to be seen by anymore people than he had to be, he kept to the alleyways as he put distance between himself and the restaurant. It was a bit hard to fly while carrying the bag of bed he'd swiped, as well as his jacket, but it still made for a faster escape than running. As much of a curse as it was, his crow wings did come in handy at the best of times. Still...he doubted he would be in situations like this if he didn't have them.

Making a last glance behind him to make sure that no one was following, he landed in an empty alley.

Sitting against a wall, he opened the bag he'd been carrying, taking out a piece of bread from his spoils. Just bread. It wasn't exciting, nor was it much, but it'd been an easy swipe from that restaurant's kitchen.

Taking a bite, he pulled something else out of his pocket. A necklace, with what looked like jewels embedded into the pendant. He smiled satisfactorily as he stared down at it, watching it glisten and shine under the small bit of mid-day sunlight that made it's way down into the alley.

Maybe he shouldn't have taken it. He wondered how long it would be until that woman noticed it was gone. He'd found it lying on a table near where she had been working - she'd probably taken it off while she'd been cooking. Still, that was what happened when you left something like this lying around, he figured.

Not wanting to make the same mistake as the woman, he quickly put it back into his pocket. Later, he'd have to decide whether to keep it or sell it for money. He liked its shimmer, but maybe if he sold it he could lay off the stealing for a while. That'd be much safer.

Finishing off one piece of the bread, he put his cloak-like jacket back on. It looked a bit odd, but it was the only way he could keep people from seeing his wings. If he kept them pressed as flat against his back as he could, and was careful not to let the feathers on his arms show through the sleeves, sometimes people wouldn't notice anything funny. It quickly got uncomfortable, but it was better than nothing.

Working his way back out towards the street, the halfing heaved a slight sigh as he started on a second piece of bread. Maybe it'd been a bad idea to come here. Maybe he should just go back to Asgarth...

No! He almost hadn't survived the trip the first time - he certainly wasn't eager to go back. Besides, all that would await him their would be the same halfing town in the Disea, the place he'd wanted so badly to leave. This was the world he liked. But why did he have to have a form that made it so hard for him to be a part of it?

Wandering aimlessly down the sidewalk with his attention occupied by his thoughts, he suddenly heard a voice behind him that made him spin his gaze around.

"That's him! That's that boy! The thief! He had wings - I swear!" It was the woman he'd stolen from, her eyes fixed almost fearfully on him as she pointed in his direction to several men who looked like some sort of officers.

The men looked skeptical about the woman's second claim, but quickly yelled out and gave chase.

His heart giving a thud, Skye frantically turned and darted away. Not wanting to prove the woman's claim, he ran, trying to get away on foot as he weaved through the crowd.

[Aiden Rhytek]

Aiden wandered the narrow streets of Munich unhappily. It had been four days with that most unusual and entrancing fae, Damaris Ellorian, and he still hadn’t returned to his manor in the Endless Realm. There was no real need to remain in the moral world. His status had been recognized as an Eternal by Damaris, he’d swept around the world on the winds in a few hours…he still hadn’t visited his homeland though. Not that it mattered though. He’d visited a library and read a few books on the history of Japan. A lot had seemed to change since his ascension, and yet not that much. Aiden would have liked to see the mountains of Kyoto again though, and walked along the banks of the Katsuragawa River. Walked with Damaris, his traitorous mind snuck in, and Aiden squashed the thought, still pacing the streets.

It was almost noon and his stomach was grumbling. Stepping into a small bakery and pastry shop, Aiden perused the menu aimlessly until a clamor attracted his attention. A small boy ran past him, out a side door, with a bag of bread pressed against his chest. A yowling woman followed him, yelling about thieves. Intrigued, Aiden followed her just in time to catch sight of the boy lifting off the ground thanks to a pair of massive black feathery wings. The woman screamed and Aiden cursed. Tossing his spear to the side—the winds could carry the weapon back to him later, and it would be useless to anyone else—he ducked out of the hysterical woman’s line of sight and transformed into the wind.

It was hard working this kind of magic outside of the Endless Realm, even though he had been recognized, and Aiden trailed after the boy slowly. To anyone besides another Eternal, or an observant fae, he would be just a slight shimmer of tinged-blue air. Aiden hovered above the Halfling boy as he examined his spoils. Aiden wasn’t a saint, and he certainly wouldn’t condemn the boy for stealing food, but the pendant gave him pause. He’d never be able to sell that without coming under suspicion…it was just unnecessary and would make the woman angrier.

Aiden continued watching as the boy was found and chased yet again, this time by armed officers. Tch, what a hassle. He really shouldn’t even be getting involved. Satisfied that the boy was only going to try to escape on foot, Aiden wove through the crowd as a breeze, directing the running men in different directios, carrying confusing sights and sounds to them on the wind. Finally convinced that he had earned at least five minutes of lead time for the boy, Aiden regained his normal appearance in an alley, safe from prying eyes, and gripped the spear he had summoned back to himself. Opening his mouth slightly, he tasted the air and—there. Setting off through the maze of people, he went where the wind told him until he was sure that the would emerge—perfect. The small Halfling ran straight into Aiden’s chest. Aiden looked down, trying to keep the amused expression off his face, and asked: “You want to get out of here?”

[Skye Asherei]

Skye ran through the mostly gawking crowd, hearing the heavy footsteps of the officers behind him as the people on the street tried to move out of the way.

Sparing a glance back, he realized that the men were armed. His heart fluttered, the halfling swallowing hard. Surely they wouldn't use those weapons for just a restaurant thievery...would they? It took every bit of restraint he had not to lift into the air, but he knew that would only make it worse - if he did, it might end up being more than just those few officers who kept coming after him.

He wondered if the woman had noticed that the pendant was missing. Damn! He should have just left it! And he should never have used his wings to begin with! The officers likely wouldn't have taken a bread heist too seriously, but if she had reported the pendant, this could end badly. And what would they do if they did catch him and discover that he wasn't quite human?

Making his legs move as fast as he could as he bore down the street, it was another minute before he dared to glance back again. When he did, though, he realized that he couldn't see the officers anymore. He could still hear their heavy boots against the sidewalk, but they were further away now. Odd. They'd been gaining on him before, but now it looked like he'd gained a bit of a lead.

Maybe this wouldn't become such a big deal after all. Feeling a brief tinge of pride in spite of himself, he turned down into an alley, hoping to escape them before they caught up.

Continuing to run, their footsteps started reaching his ears again a few moments later. Shoot - they had made the turn after all! His brief flare of hope disappearing, he ducked down another side alley, his breath coming heavily and his legs beginning to ache as he willed them to keep moving. He had to lose them soon! He wasn't sure how much longer he could run like this...

He suddenly let out a sharp gasp, the wind knocked out of him as he smacked straight into...something.

"Ow..." He complained, momentarily dazed as he toppled to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked back up, realizing that it was a person who'd been standing in his path.

Strange. He'd been staring straight ahead just moments ago - he could swear that no one had been there. Where could they have come from so quickly?

And what was with this person? At first he'd been afraid that they were one of his pursuers, but that clearly wasn't the case. He grimaced in irritation as he looked him over - it looked like an older male with dark blue hair and clothes that didn't match the officer's uniforms. Regardless, he'd just slowed him down.

He heard the officer's footsteps thud more loudly now, figuring that they were just about to turn the last corner. His stomach lurching, he was about to jump back to his feet when the strange person suddenly spoke.

He blinked at his words, bewildered. Was that a mockery? Had he blocked him on purpose? Or was that an offer for help?

Skye frowned suspiciously, but gave a simple, hurried nod.

[Kagami Usan]

Kagami yawned, the day had been slow and she was bored to no ends. Her time in the mortal world wasn't any better than anywhere else. It hadn't been worse by any means, but she always had to have the hood of her cloak up as she wandered around. Though her long ears were laying flat against her head, she could slowly feel them starting to crinkle.

As she roamed the streets, a shouting woman could be heard. It seemed that someone had stolen from her. Looking towards the direction of the commotion, someone with black wings flew some distance before landing. "Well, it might be entertaining," Kagami said to herself. If this person was another half like her, then she might get someone to talk to. She then started to run to where she though the person had landed.

It wasn't long before she found the person, it seemed to be a boy about her age. The boy had a jacket on and was starting to make his way out the other side of the alley. It would have been easy to have simply run up and surprise him, but before she even had the chance, the woman from before seemed to have caught up. Even though she could have easily caught up to them, it seemed like she would have just blended in behind the police. Instead, she ran along side the boy, with the buildings separating them.

It was hard for her to keep pace with him, not that she wasn't fast enough, but rather too fast. A few alleys away, Kagami slowed down in order to see if the police were following him. A few seconds passed, but the humans seemed to have been lost. Though they were slow, at least to her they were, they shouldn't have been that slow. Now would be a good time to catch up, so she ran with an extra burst of speed.

Another alley and she made a sharp turn, running straight through. At the other end, she made another sharp turn, trying to cut off the boy, instead she ran straight into the back of some man that she hadn't seen before. The force of running into someone forced her to fall back and and land on her butt. She looked up and saw that her hood had been thrown off, quickly forcing her to cover her ears with her hands. Even though they followed the direction of her hair, it was obvious that they weren't her hair.

Even though she could hear the footsteps of the cops, she wasn't worried. They weren't chasing her so she wasn't worried about it. Instead she just sat and looked at the boy who was on the opposite side of the man.

[Aiden Rhytek]

The boy obviously didn't trust him. Aiden didn't blame him. He was a Hafling. The mortal earth must have not been a very happy and welcoming place for him. As the boy nodded, Aiden gripped his spear and—ouch. He turned around to see another halfling thud to the ground behind him. The hafling was a small girl, with white rabbit ears that she slapped her hands over trying to hide them from. What were the chances, he groaned mentally. All he had wanted was a nice vacation and visit to his homeland. Why on earth were all these people where they didn't belong?

“Are you in trouble as well?” Aiden growled at the girl. “I shouldn't have bothered with getting involved.” Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed her by her shirt collar and pulled her in front of him, beside the other vagabond boy. He placed one end of the spear in her hands, one in the boy's hands and instructed them to hold on tight. Then, without a warning, Aiden sent the spear straight up in the air, a good twelve feet above his head. Just as he did so, a thunder of footsteps resounded towards him, carried by the wind, and a clatter of officers piled into the alleyway.

“Have you seen a boy around here?” A mustached man, looking faintly weary with the whole chase, was the one who questioned him.

“A boy...?” Aiden responded cheerily, as if he had no idea what the man was talking about. “A boy...no I haven't seen one of those around here, but there was a lady shouting about thieving boys about...over there!” He finished his sentence with a bright smile and by pointing in the exact opposite direction. The men hurried off—perhaps hurried on their way by a little nip of wind.

Aiden looked up at the two haflings floating in the air above him and remarked lazily: “I suppose you'll be wanting to come down, then? Not quite time yet, though.” Without any visible effort, Aiden floated up beside them, examining the city. “We need somewhere deserted, I suppose...” He glided over the rooftops, the spear bouncing along behind him. He really did hope the kids didn't fall. It would be quite inconvenient and messy for him to clean up. Finally, after five minutes, Aiden touched down on a ground. He had landed on a roll of green grass just inside the Englischer Garten.

With a wave of his hand, the spear dropped down to ground level, setting the children down on the ground. Retrieving his spear from their slack hands, Aiden said: “Now give me a good reason for saving you. Also, can I have some of that bread? I'm starving.”

[Skye Asherei]

Waiting for his response, Skye suddenly glanced over in surprise as he heard another thud come from behind the strange man, momentarily distracted as he heard someone else topple over.

Angling his gaze, he caught sight of a girl close to his own age sitting on the ground. And not just any girl, he quickly realized. She had long rabbit ears pressed against her head, trying in vain to cover them with her hands. Another...halfling? His eyes opened wider. What were the odds of that here in the human world? He hadn't seen another since leaving Asgarth.

He stared at her for a moment, before the man's voice directed his attention back up. This time he was addressing the second halfling. But before either of them could say anything, he suddenly snatched them both by their shirts, pulling them in front of him.

It was Skye's impulse to struggle - he hated it when people reached out for him like that, as if he was a plaything, but he could hear the thudding of the officer's feet getting louder by the second. He had a feeling that whatever the man was going to do with him wouldn't be worse than what they might have planned. The stranger placed the end of an odd spear in his hand just a moment later, with the other end resting in the palms of the other halfling. He blinked down at it, bewildered as the man instructed them to hold on.

Before he could ask any questions, he was suddenly up in the air. He had to stifle down a startled cry, realizing that he was looking down at the officers now as he held on to the spear. He could feel his heart thud in spite of himself, his hands sweaty as they gripped the floating weapon. Yes. This was definitely a good time to have wings for backup. It wouldn't be ideal, but at least if he had to he could whip off the cloak and take flight. He briefly spared a glance at the rabbit halfling, hoping that she was holding on tight - she didn't have the safety net that he did.
Skye couldn't hear what the man was telling the officers, but he breathed a sigh of relief when they took off in the opposite direction. Speaking a few words, the stranger floated up to them after their departure, saying something about needing to find somewhere deserted.

The staff they were holding on to suddenly started moving after the stranger, making him tense as glided through the air before eventually setting them down to a grassy landing. He looked at the man, his eyes wide. By now, it was obvious that he wasn't quite human, either.

A good reason for saving him? He blinked at the stranger as he spoke. "I don't know. I don't have a good reason to give you." He eventually replied, his voice dry. He did take out a piece of the bread, though. He didn't like parting with it, frowning a bit as he handed it over, but the man had just saved him, as much as he hated to admit it - who knew what those officers might have done with him by now?

He absently glanced over at the other halfling, too. He'd never expected to run into another person like him. What was she doing here? Was she just a wanderer who'd gotten sick of Asgarth like him?

[Kagami Usan]

Kagami looked up at the man who asked if she needed any help. Before she could even open her mouth to answer that she didn't, he picked her up and stood her next to the boy. There wasn't any time for her to even think before the bottom of a spear was thrust into her hands.

The spear quickly flew up into the air, causing the bunny girl to freeze in fear. She could only look down as the police walked up to the man. He seemed to lead them astray before they could look up at them. All she wanted to do was let go of the spear and land back on the ground. It might have been possible for her to swing to a close building, but her fear forced her to keep a tight grip.

It was some time before he came up and spoke to them. He seemed to have some good powers to be able to fly them up on a stick and fly himself without wings. He wanted to find a place away from anyone else. They started making their way out of the city.

Though it seemed like it had been an eternity before they landed some distance away, it was only a few minutes. Once they landed the first thing that came out of the man's mouth was for her to give him a good reason for saving him, "WHAT!?" Walking up to him, Kagami grabbed one her ears and started straightening it between her hands, knowing that the shock of flying out of a town had messed them up.

"I was doing just fine before you showed up and flew me half way through the country! And now you expect something?!" Once the burst of anger escaped her, she became at a loss for what exactly she should do. The first reaction that came to mind was for her to switch ears and walk back to the other halfling.

Once she was standing next to the boy, she realized that her anger was all but gone and impossible to even fake. In reality she was just glad that she was able to fly above the whole town. That was when a realization came to mind. Whirling around, she yelled at the man, "You up skirted me to the whole city!" Even if nobody had seen it, she knew that there was the possibility of everyone looking.

Kagami was starting to think that following the bird boy was a mistake. Even though she was shown to the whole city, it was more entertaining than wandering around that city. It was confusing to figure out which she was, entertained or enraged.

[Aiden Rhytek]

Watching the kids climb to their feet, Aiden happily accepted the piece of bread that the winged hafling gave him, and munched on it as the kid talked. “No good reason, eh?” Aiden replied, after swallowing the chunk of bread he had been chewing. “Well I don't really have a good reason for why I saved you either, so I guess we're even.” Examing the warm loaf clutched in his hands, Aiden added: “Good taste in food, by the way.”

Of course, Aiden should have known such peace couldn't have lasted long. Barely had he gotten the words out of his mouth then the other halfing girl stalked over to him, straightening her ears and shouting angrily. Aiden bore out her tirade in stoic silence, his blank expression only broken by the occasional chew and swallow of the rapidly diminishing bread. When the girl finally walked back to the boy in a huff, only turning around once to yell at him, Aiden spoke:

“Should I have left you to the guards then? They knew about his wings--” Aiden broke off to point at the halfling boy's cape-covered back. “--so what do you think they would have done once they noticed your ears? Locked you up and experimented on you? Besides, we're not even out of Munich. This is just a park. If you want to go back to wandering around, be my guest.” He paused, considering how to address her final point.

“Well, I'm sorry about that, but didn't your parents ever teach you to wear pants if you're going to go exploring?” It was a shame to end his little speech on such a rude note. "My name is Aiden by the way, what's yours?"

[Skye Asherei]

Skye stared at the man as he started on the piece of bread he'd given him. He had no good reason, either, huh? He hadn't figured he had. After all, aside from a simple snack, what good could he have expected to get out of him? It's not like he was really worth much. He was an out-of-place halfling trying - probably foolishly - to get by in the human world, nothing more. A part of him wanted to protest that he could've gotten away just fine by himself, but in reality, he knew that wasn't true - not without exposing his wings to far too many people, anyway.

He wondered again what kind of person this stranger was. It was quite obvious that he wasn't a human - he had some form of magic - but what was he, then? And what was he doing in the human world? Skye wasn't sure. He thought about asking, but ended up just giving the man a slightly odd look as he made a comment about his taste in food.

In the end, he just wandered a couple of feet away, plopping down into the grass as he took out another slice of bread for himself. He quickly looked back up, though, as the other halfling suddenly raised her voice, striding over to the man.

Apparently she hadn't been in trouble like he had. He absently wondered if she'd gotten on better in the human world than he had, as he took another bite of the bread, just listening to her angry words and watching the man's disinterested face. He looked up at the rabbit girl as she walked back over in his direction, but listened to the man's words as he finally replied.

He flinched a bit as he suddenly pointed to his cape. Experiments? The thought made him cringe, casting his gaze downward a bit until his introduction and request for the other halfling's name made him look back up. So, the stranger's name was Aiden, then.

"My name is Skye." He butted in, not wanting to be left out as he waited for the girl's response to the question.

He wasn't even quite sure why he was waiting to find out. He didn't know these people. He might as well just go off on his own again now that he was safe from the officers. But he did rather want to talk to the other halfling, even though she almost seemed a bit scary. And even if he did go back to wandering the streets, what was he going to do now? What would stop a situation like this from happening again? If he tried to get some sort of job, he ran the risk of being discovered. If he tried to get by through stealing, he ran the risk of being discovered. He sighed, taking a large, frustrated bite off of his bread as he waited for someone to speak.

[Kagami Usan]

Kagami jumped in shock at the word experiment. She hadn't actually thought of what they would do if they caught her. Humility took effect as she sighed, realizing that he had help her even if she didn't know it. She wouldn't actually apologize for yelling at him, but she would introduce herself, "I'm Kagami."

"It not like they could do any real damage right? Unless they could catch me." The words came out of her mouth, but she wasn't telling Aiden or even Skye, instead they were aimed at herself. There was little doubt of the power they held if they tried. It was just something that she didn't want to admit.

In reality she had just arrived in the mortal world, so she truly didn't know anything about what they were capable of. "Well," she wanted to ask what they would do, but she just changed the subject. "Can I have some bread?" She asked Skye. She sat next to him as she asked the question. There was nothing she could easily do to regain her composer, and she was slightly hungry.

It almost wasn't fair, they had to move in secret, hiding their true identity, while the humans could do whatever they wanted. It was because of their rules, their laws, that her and Skye had to stay in the shadows. Maybe it was a good thing that she ran into these two. At the very least she knew that they could relate to that. She wondered how the others felt about the people of the mortal world, but it wouldn't be too hard to figure out, at least Skye wasn't in her opinion, but Aiden, she had no clue about him.

[Aiden Rhytek]

The last of the bread Aiden had disappeared as the kids told him their names. Skye and Kagami, eh? He hadn't heard of either of them, but to be fair he almost never left the Endless Realms and they looked fairly young.

“I'll tell you,” Aiden said rather dramatically, looking up at the clouds. “Standards sure have gone down since I was young. Eight hundred years ago, if I had talked to an adult like you two--” he looked back at them and focused his glare on Kagami, “--talked to me, I would have been in such trouble. My mother would have made me swim a river upstream in the middle of winter. And then I would have been beaten with branches from a maple tree, branches I cut myself. If my mother didn't think they were big enough, she would make me uproot the entire tree and then she'd just drop that on me...” Aiden trailed off, frowning as if in remembered pain. “Well, she can't do that anymore, she's dead. And it'd be far too much work for me to do to you, so I guess you're off the hook.”

Sitting down on the grass across from the kids, Aiden crossed his legs and smiled at them, propping his head against his hand. “So your names are Skye and Kagami?” He looked at Skye. “Your parents had a sense of humor, at least.” Aiden snorted and shook his head. “I can't believe I ran into you. Germany is turning into the next Esther. I met a fae who was in trouble just three days ago and now you guys...sheesh.”

His face settled into a more serious expression though, and his voice grew more commanding. “Why are you kids here by yourselves anyway? This world may not know about magic, but they have incredible technology. You shouldn't be here without someone who knows the ropes. Where are your parents? And why did you leave Ásgarth? At least you would be safe and free there."

[Skye Asherei]

Kagami. That's what the girl's name was. Didn't sound familiar. Skye briefly looked her over again, more closely as he tried to recall whether or not he might've seen her before. No, she didn't look familiar, either. Maybe she'd come from a different town than he had even though they were both halfings.

He held out a piece of bread at the request, though, as she sat down next to him on the grass. It was the last piece. He sighed internally. All that trouble and his spoils definitely hadn't lasted long. He was still hungry. Oh well. He'd worry about that again later - right now he was still a bit too shaken up to think about how he might get his next meal.

He looked up again as the man, Aiden, started to speak. His eyes widened a bit, the boy slightly disturbed by his words. Beaten by branches? Uprooting trees? He just stared, but shot him a rather dirty look as he made the comment about his name. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten comments like that, but they irritated him every time. He wrinkled his nose a bit, but didn't say anything as the man continued talking.

Technology? His parents? Why did he leave Asgarth?

Technology was fascinating, even though admittedly he didn't know that much about it, yet. It was one of the things that he wanted to learn about this world. But he didn't want to talk about his parents.

"I don't need my parents." He answered simply, sounding a bit defenesive even though he hadn't meant to. "I don't like them. And I don't like Asgarth, either." Part of the reason he'd come to the human world had actually been because of his parents - the farther away from them, the better. And Asgarth felt like a cage. With it's technology, bustling crowds, winding streets, and constant activity, the human world felt so much more alive. And most of the other halflings - although there were obviously exceptions, he briefly glanced at the rabbit girl again - weren't like him. They were content with the lives and home they were given. He wasn't. It wasn't fair! He'd decided that wasn't going to put up with it anymore. Even if he would've been safe and free there, it still felt like opression to him. He realized now that he had underestimated just how hard that would be, though. Maybe he'd just been stupid... He hung his head a bit, looking down away from the man and at his feet as he waited for the girl's response, curious.

[Kagami Usan]

Kagami took the bread and bit a small portion of it off. It was decent enough to eat, but she probably wouldn't be able to finish it all. She broke half of it off and placed it in her lap, maybe she would finish it later. It didn't really matter to her anyway, if she needed, food could be found anywhere outside of the paved roads that formed the city.

Hearing Aiden speak again, she turned her head just enough so that her eyes could get him in sight. He was reminiscing about the childhood punishments he received. They were a bit excessive by her standards, but he seemed to be made of entirely different stuff then either she or Skye were. It was of little importance, as she felt that he was merely exaggerating in order to make them feel regret, or some other form of self punishment. If that was the case, it didn't work.

The thing that did catch her attention was that he thought her parents had a sense of humor for naming her as they did. She had absolutely no clue what that meant, as such she looked at him with a puzzling expression. It was after that, questions of reasoning started to come out. At first she wanted to speak, but was quickly beaten to it by the bird boy. Instead of interrupting him, she simply nodded when he spoke of his parents, but shook his head with disagreement about Asgarth.

Finally her turn to speak came, "I agree with Skye, at least about my parents. I don't need, want, or like them. That's why I left them. Asgarth is a different story, we're only 'safe and free' there if we do what everyone wants us to. Although I am interested in why you didn't say happy, wouldn't personal happiness be placed before safety?" Or was she the only one with logic like that?

"Not that Asgarth really matters at a time like this, maybe I was here for the technology anyway." It was a blatant lie, but she felt it would at least give her a good reason for being in the realm of mortals. "The humans always make such interesting things. Perhaps something of use could be found." Deep in the back of her mind, she used technology only as one more thing to irritate this man. Another story of his beatings in the past would be entertaining, even if he did blow them out of proportion.

[Aiden Rhytek]

“Neither of you like your parents?” Aiden sighed. “I'd say something, but I hated my father, and I don't like being a hypocrite anymore than needed.” He leaned back on his elbows and looked up at the sky. Leaves from a nearby tree were ripped off their branches and formed elaborate twirls above his head. Aiden seemed to enjoy the show until the leaves began to spell out a name—scowling, he waved his hand and they cascaded, lifeless, down over his head, a few sticking in his hair.

“Happiness? I didn't mention it, did I? I suppose I thought that happiness always came with being safe and free...I'm both of those right now, and aren't I happy? I think I am...” He sat back up and smiled again. “God, that was melodramatic. I sounded like one of those whiny vampires.”

“But there's still a difference, between what I am and what you are.” Aiden said. “If you want happiness, shouldn't you wait until you're strong enough to protect your happiness? There are plenty of other places for you kids to be, even just in Esther, places where you could be safe and happy, if you insist on being happy.”

Aiden looked up again, as if searching for something. “Technology...did you know this world has flying metal vehicles? They call them 'planes' and they carry people up into the sky and all over the world. And televison! I stole a television from here and brought it home! I still don't know how to work the thing, but when I find out how...”

He stood up and brushed off his pants. Untying his ponytail and letting his hair down, Aiden shot a death glare at the two halflings. “Not a word about my hair,” he growled as he combed through the long blue strands with his fingers. Satisfied all the leaves were out, he put his hair back up and eyed the two halflings. “Hey, that reminds me, Skye. What are you going to do with that pendant? Give it to your girlfriend here or something? There's no way you'll be able to sell that without getting caught.”

[Skye Asherei]

Skye looked up at the girl as she spoke. So, she didn't like her parents, either. Figured. He wondered what they'd done to her to her. Were they like his? He winced internally as the image of his mother's twisted, mocking face appeared in his mind, but he quickly forced it away, trying to wipe the expression off his face. What good did thinking about it do?

Instead, he focused his attention back on Kagami. He agreed with her about Asgarth as well. They were only safe and free if they lived and behaved as they were expected to - that was exactly it! But personal happiness before safety... He'd never really thought about it that way, but perhaps she was right. After all, even if he hadn't thought those words through exactly, how else could he have justified going to the human world? What was the point of living safely forever if you never got any happiness out of all that time, anyway...?

He listened again as Aiden answered her words. He had problems with his parents, too? At least his father. What were the odds of all three of them not liking their family? He gave a slight ironic smile. Maybe otherwise people like them wouldn't even have come to this world. Although he still didn't know Aiden's story, and he supposed it wasn't necessarily true that he hated his whole family, either. He felt a brief tinge of pain as the face of his older sister briefly appeared in his mind. He bit his lip. But she was gone, anyway...

Trying to push his thoughts away, he looked back up at Aiden. "That depends on your definition of freedom, I guess." He commented simply. Asgarth was a very conditional freedom. That was a type of oppression, too. The rest of that realm wasn't much better. Regardless of where he went, it wasn't like halflings were a very respected race. He'd been called 'defective' by many a pure changeling before.

He frowned a bit as the man continued, though. A big difference between him and them? Maybe...but... Just because he'd saved him once didn't make him that much better! He started feeling a bit defensive, finding himself getting a bit irritated.

"I am strong enough to find my own happiness!" He protested. "I just..." He looked down a bit, feeling ashamed of the situation earlier. "And I've heard of planes! I've never seen one...but I don't need one, anyway! And I've seen televisions! I know how to work them!" He added in a rather pathetic attempt at boasting. He'd seen one in a house he'd gone into in an earlier theft shortly after arriving in this realm. He'd played with it a bit and managed to turn one on after observing the occupants before they left. True, all he'd been able to get was static - not a moving picture like they had - but he didn't add that part in.

He flinched a bit at the mention of the pendant, though. He'd seen that? How? Had he been watching him before the chase actually began? "That's none of your business!" He huffed indignantly, slightly embarrassed. Why had he ever taken that thing? He wasn't even sure. Aiden was probably right...though he didn't want to admit it. "I...I'll just say that it's family heirloom...or something..." He finished uncertainly.

"A...anyway...what's your story, then?" He deflected quickly. "What are you, exactly? Why are you here if you think things are so fine in the other realms?"