A Small Glade

[Asila]

All right, she was sure that there was something in this carraige now! Not only had she sensed another presence a couple different times within the past few hours, but Rojo was clearly hiding something! And she had just felt something crash into her only a moment ago, had seen the door open and swing shut, seemingly of it's own accord. Normally she would have scoffed at the idea of an invisible person lurking here within the carriage. But after their unusual battle...

She completely ignored Devon and his over-logiced explanations. Well, not quite. She granted him an incredulous stare, standing suddenly to pace toward the door, opening and closing it a few times. Confident that it was in perfect working order, she turned back to the humans, not amused. She thought they were lieing to her again, and the idea did not become more pleasent with repetition. Dark shadows of mistrust crept over her countenance as she studied them. "You are hiding something from me." She said bluntly, still as touchy at the prospect of being fooled as she had been initially.

These were not old friends of hers, after all. She was not so trusting that she could give them the benefit of the doubt. Not when the friendship that had begun to stablilze between them was so new.

This time around, she would not be so easily distracted from the truth. The humans would have to come up with an alternate explanation quickly if they wanted to keep her from discovering the truth.

[Rojo]

Rojo thought very quickly, trying to "use his noggin" as they said. His eyes moved upwards , and his mouth moved wordlessly for a moment. He appeared to be in deep thought on what to tell Evening. After a minute his eyes came back down to rest on Evening

"Nope" he said " I cannot think of a convincing egnough explanation to cover up what happened" he grinned rather mischeviously.

"I have a 'speacial' travelling companion. He's just left the vehicle, but I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet you when he comes back. He's just a little nervous around...certain people, but I expect he shall be back tommorrow, and I can explain fuller then." He leaned back again, feeling pleased with the way he had handled the situation.


Shadow looked down on the carriage from the high tree. He watched it roll along. He blinked, watching it decend down a hill. He jumped with suprising speed into the next tree, then the next, then he droppped down and ran off into the forest to explore, moving so quickly the leaves and ground rustled.

[Seven]

Devon watched her silent and growing anger, moving out of her when she went to check the door, realizing he should have tried to stop her. But no man wants to deal with an angry woman, that's just asking for a death sentence. All he could do was smile sheepishly at her candid words.

He too was trying to think of a quick explanation, but Rojo's cheery voice interupted his thoughts. Rojo had just told the truth--and honestly, Devon wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved or upset at him for jumping to that solution so quickly. But he sighs, figuring it for the best; after all, she'd be much more upset (he'd imagine) if they lied to her now for a longer span only for her to learn of it later. "Yes...this is true. I believe you might of saw him actually. He was visible during the battle, his name is Shadow." He stops for a moment, "It is a confusing situation, so perhaps you would like to listen to it instead in the morning?"

Devon was ready to leave it at that, but Jenri, though older, was not so wise. Jenri may have warmed up to the strange man, but he still thought this was all a load of hoo-haa. It seems he has a short memory span, as he completely disregarded the strange fight from earlier. He bellows with his trademark, sarcastic laughter. "Oh, this again?"
"Jenri..." Devon said through his teeth, trying to tell the fool to be silent. But the old man paid no attention to such a warning.
"Ha! A'gain with this fairy tale about coming from 'nother world! Like we're supposed to believe that!" he continued to chuckle.
Devon sometimes wished he could strangle his beloved driver.

[Asila]

"A traveling companion?" Evening repeated doubtfully, frowning at Rojo. "So there has been an invisible being in this carriage with us all along." Her voice was frightfully flat, as though she were on the verge of an outburst and the dull monotone she spoke with now was only the transition.

She stood there and stared at the two of them, reluctant to reclaim her seat. Too much of her tension had returned to her for that. Of course, this would make it difficult for her to retain her balance should Jenri steer them over another rock, but she was willing to risk it. She did not want to relinquish the dominance and power that such a stance implied. She really needed the facade, for she was more confused than angry and her Tallamous sensibilities did not want the humans to see this.

She shook her head when Devon spoke, slightly surprised by his message. "It was that shadow-creature that just departed? But...if I could see him while we were fighting, why couldn't I see him now?" She didn't seem all that intent on taking Devon's advice and waiting until morning to discover the whole story. It was nearly impossible to let such a revelation drop, even for the span of a single night.

However, Jenri's next comment managed to stymie the impending questions regarding this Shadow. Now she wondering just what the stage driver meant when he spoke of other worlds. Was it Rojo who had made this claim? And if so, why would he say such a thing? There were no other worlds.

"Wait..." She began, obviously confused. "did Rojo come from another world?" She stared at them as though she believed that someone here was insane, and she just couldn't decided whether it was them or her.

At least she was befuddled instead of furious. Her confusion would make her more placid. Devon and Rojo just might get out of this without being mauled for their deception.

[Rojo]

Rojo sighed. To explain how she could see Shadow during the battle would mean saying that magic functioned differently around Shadow, adding the the different world suggestions.

When Jenri snorted and blurted out that Rojo wasn't of this world, Rojo himself put his head in his hands. This evening was going horribly wrong. He might as well take the cake and tell them he was undead, but some how finding out someone you know is actually an abomination of nature and should not be is more shocking than finding out he's from another world.

He thought of what to say next. He couldn't say the truth like with the other matter, this needed careful care. But he couldn't lie and say he wasn't, becuase then she would be suspicious...

"Would you believe me if I said I was?" he decided on saying, going for something clever.

[Seven]

To Evening's earlier comment, Devon smiled hopelessly, shrugging a little, "I couldn't see him either in the beginning. I think the point is that you can't see them. From what Rojo explained to me, it sort of has to follow him around..." he was considerably less eloquent than before, but he has never had to deal with such a situation before either.

As soon as he turned his head away from Evening to Jenri, his expression hardened, scoldingly at his driver. Jenri just gives a shrug, "Oh, I wasn't supposed te say that, was I? I just did't think it was a big deal, as it was the first thing he told you when he stumbled in here..."

"You have very selective hearing, don't you Jenri?" Devon says with a sigh. He looked over at his friend, being forced to admit the truth...or rather, hint that it was truth. He wondered where Rojo was going with this, but he was already mentally preparing the apology and explanation he'd give Evening when she had a fit.

[Asila]

This entire mess just kept getting weirder, Evening thought to herself, not sure what to make of Rojo's question. What did he mean by that? Was this some kind of elaborate trick? The thought made her blood start to boil. Wasn't it enough that they had humiliated her once in one day? Why did they continue to tease her? It was a jerk thing to do.

She narrowed her eyes at Rojo. "No, I don't think I would beleive you at all. In fact, I think you are just trying to deceive me again. Why won't you give it a rest?" She said, reclaiming her seat now as she seethed angrily. She nearly snapped at Devon when he continued what she now thought to be some kind of sick charade, nearly shouting 'Oh, GIVE IT UP' at the top of her lungs. Instead she bit her lip and got ahold of her indignance. She would not scream like a child.

"Was the 'traveling companion' a lie, too?" She suddenly asked, staring at them. If Rojo was lying about his origins, then the two of them must be lying about Shadow as well. It was the only thing that seemed to make sense at the moment.

However, her glare was short-lived. She quickly looked away, convinced that she was being lied to again and feeling distinctly unhappy with this whole affair.

[Rojo]

Rojo interlocked his fingers as Evening turned the cold shoulder. He felt like jabbing pointy things made of metal in and out of the driver's face repeatedly, but pushed away those malicious thoughts. The good thing was that she didn't believe him. After all, it was an extremely hard concept to grasp. He was suprised Devon hadn't needed to be convinced.

When she asked about Shadow, he felt upset. What reasons would they have to lie to her?
"No..." he sais slowly, chosing his words "he's real. If you really wanted I could call him back right now."

The next part was very tweedled
"Anyway, why would we lie to you? What reason do we have? For some sick joke? Why? If we sought to embaress you, we would have exploited your fear of blood, we could've shot you in the leg and left you for dead...we don't hate you or see you as an object of amusement. We see you as an equal. I certainly don't, but I'm not sure about heartless Devon here, calling poor Shadow an 'it'" he said, winking at Devon "I don't see Tallamous and Humans, I see people."

He sat down, not sure if he had just revealed to her he really was from another world.

[Seven]

"hey! I called him a 'he' to begin with!" Devon protested. "I guess I'm just a little frazzled...or tired..." he says, falling back into his seat. This certainly was a long day. Maybe it was best that Evening didn't believe them anyways. He closed his eyes again as he listened to Rojo speak. He felt proud to have such a good person as a new friend, he brought up excellent points. Well, the way he figured it, if she believed them, they'd have to explain. If she was angry, they'd just let the topic go and have her think whatever she wanted. In either case, he waited for her response.

((sorry, le short-i-ness since I didn't really feel Devs had much to do now))

[Asila]

"You could...call him back?" Evening asked, beginning to think that they might have been telling the truth about the shadow-creature, after all. Maybe he really was a traveling companion, and not just a peculiar elemental attack as she had earlier thought. She began to feel terrible that she'd accused them of lying to her...

But if they were telling the truth about Shadow,...what exactly was going on with the other worlds thing? Was that true or false? She wasn't sure. Her prejudices still insisted that she shouldn't trust them at all, and that she'd already been foolish for relaxing in their company at all.

Listening to Rojo, however, she began to realise that she had over reacted. Before she'd gone paranoid just now about perceived lies and treachery, she had begun to trust them. Perhaps that small amount of faith had been well placed. She'd seen them fight, been healed by them, joked and laughed with them. Had they been Tallamous, a negative thought never would have crossed her mind even if she'd been confronted by this same peculiar series of odd phrases and events. She'd have accepted them the same way that Devon accepted Rojo. With only good will and innocent curiosity.

She was only acting this way because they were human. And that was a terrible thing to judge someone for. Rojo was right. Race shouldn't matter.

He was also right about his having plenty of opportunity to cause her harm should he desire it, but she preferred not to think of that. No one liked to dwell on their weaknesses.

So she had begun to recover from her attack of paranoia, but it was not a rainbows and sunshine turn of mentality. She didn't automatically regain the good cheer she had held only minutes before. Instead, she felt confused, unsure, and like an idiot for behaving as she had just now. Only a few minutes ago she would have smiled at Devon's protest, now she only gave a very slight shake of her head.

She decided to try and explain. She felt she owed them that much. "I'm sorry," She said softly, her gaze sliding from one to the other as she spoke though she was reluctant to meet their eyes. "I just...I don't know, this is hard. I've never really spoken with humans before. I was always told that they were foolish, barbaric creatures. Cruel and selfish. But...the two of you are different." She met their gaze now, less fearful, more curious. "And I'm not sure how to respond to that. I keep thinking that I must be misreading you and that you couldn't possibly be good but, well, I think I'm wrong." She still wanted to ask about Rojo's origins and about the one they called Shadow, but she'd already spewed enough for the moment.

Instead, she opted for allowing them time to respond. They no doubt thought her eccentric by now...

[Rojo]

Rojo yawned widely. He felt like he needed to switch off for a while. But he would assure Evening she was fine before his drifted off. He gave a dark chuckle when she explained why she was cold to them at first, and then his face turned into a sort of half grin, half sympathetic frown.

"The problem is, Evening, most of us are barbaric and evil. But I thank you for placing Devon and myself in the small category of people who are humans and are not fat gits who order their armies to trample other countries and their followers. Anyway, I didn't learn proper socialization 'til I was about six. Everything before then was 'Oi, mista, you give me a few coppa peesis and I'll leavs you alone, right?'"

He almost laughed when she looked rather sheepish about how she had never spoken to humans before, reminding him greatly of his niece, who had once looked almost exactly as Evening did now. Not lookwise, of course, but in the expression and body language.
"Don't worry. Devon don't know how to talk to humans either. He speaks in what most people call" he put on a mock posh voice "a gentleman fashion" he grinned and curled up in a corner.

"If you still have suspicions on my claims of being from another world, you may believe me or not. Devon believes it. The driver doesn't. You believe what you want to. And I don't want to hear anymore on the matter, right?" he said, then turned over and closed his eyes, before falling asleep.

[Seven]

Devon listened to Evening understandingly. It struck him funny when she said that humans were considered to her evil and barbaric, as that's exactly how human legends had always spoken of the Tallamous. "There seems to be many ill stereotypes between our two races, Evening. But I must agree with Rojo, who I feel is right about both cases. I entertain the idea that people tend to emphasize the bad they see in people unlike themselves and ignore any good. But in the end, I imagine that any 'good' or 'bad' is about equal, leaving such beliefs fool-hardy. It is all a matter of how we represent the 'Other.' " He gave a little smile, "Though Rojo does have the unfair advantage over us, when it comes to not being pre-biased, and thus making assumptions of people. After all, he doesn't have a mental schema of the three races like we do," he grinned, almost implying that Rojo was 'cheating' in this game of selflessness. But, what Devon had said would once again imply that Rojo was from another world.

He then turned to Rojo with a look of subtle indignity, "And what do you mean by that, Rojo? I can speak to people perfectly well!" he exclams another protest, though it's perfectly ironic since his current indignity makes him sound more...how did Rojo phrase it? Mock posh noble-esque. He didn't seem to notice though, since he frowned and crossed his arms.

Jenri, however, overhearing this conversation, gave a sudden roar of laughter from the driver's seat. Devon brought his shoulders up defensively (in a sort of turtle fashion), looking both flustered and as happy as a wet cat. "Well excuse me for speaking formally. I cannot help it, even if it does not please you all."

But before he could argue the matter further, he saw that Rojo was already fast asleep. His darkened expression softened a bit, as he quietly gave a knock on the wall. "Jenri?" he called out in a gentle and sweet tone, "Perhaps we should cease traveling for the night and retire." Jenri gives a nod, as the carriage slows to a stop.

[Asila]

Evening nodded in agreement as they spoke. She felt foolish now for the prejudices she had earlier held concerning the human race. They weren't nearly as degenerate as she had imagined them. It seemed that she had simply spent far too much time in self-imposed exhile and her imagination had run wild with negative perceptions regarding the other races. Perhaps she had mistrusted and disliked the humans so severly because she had lived in their lands and did not want to fall prey to the temptation of joining other people again. Maybe she had thought that she didn't even deserve them after the astounding act of cowardice she had pulled seven years ago. This would explain why her subconcious had taken the prejudices of her family and warped them until it seemed to her that humans were even more terrible than she'd been told. It hadn't been her parents who'd told her humans were evil. Even though they had said that humans were ignorant and easily mislead, nearly every other trait had been a product of her overactive imagination. A pessimistic composition that included many of the negative traits exhibited by all three humanoid races, though she had blamed them only on one. It had simply been easier to have one enemy than it would be to have three, for she kind of had issues with all the races, even her own.

But that was enough psychology for one night. It was one hell of a mess to sort through, and her mind was already starting to hurt with the effort. She just listened to them speak, knowing Rojo was right when he said that any group of people had a great potential for evil. Taking comfort when he told her not to worry, since everyone in the carriage possessed their own brand of communication issues. Even Devon, who seemed to get teased fairly often by this bunch.

As for Rojo's mysterious origins, she wasn't sure what to believe. Perhaps time would clarify that mystery for her.

What Devon had to say was interesting as well, and related clearly with her own analysis of the situation. This harmony between their three perspectives only calmed her further. She had nearly regained the comfort in their presence that she had enjoyed earlier, except it felt different this time. She was a less skittish and a lot less nervous of the situation now. It helped that the irritating voice at the back of her mind, that one that whispered things like, 'You can't trust them. They're human. They'll turn on you", had finally fallen silent.

She thought it odd Devon seemed so sure of Rojo's unusual story when she wasn't sure of anything, but she did not comment. She knew herself well enough to know that questioning him on his reasons for believing Rojo would not help. She was a hard-headed individual, as the saying went. She had to find reasons of her own.

She listened to Devon's indignant response to Rojo's teasing and smiled again, though with less energy than she had before. While her physical strength had returned to her for the time being, boosted by the darkness that had fallen outside, she felt as though she'd strained her mind. The past few hours had been particularly wild.

Rojo had fallen asleep already, and she was jealous of him for being able to manage it. How could he possibly sleep at night? She had never been able to pull it off successfully.

She didn't speak until Devon had Jenri stop the carriage, at which point she seemed to wake from her reverie and started pelting Devon with questions. "We're just going to stop here? Don't you human travelers wait until you reach a village for that kind of thing? Where are we going to sleep?" This last she asked because, while she was perfectly content sleeping on the forest floor, she couldn't see Devon outside of anything but the most extravagant hotel room.

Then her eyes widened as she thought of something else. "What about those invisible monsters? Don't you think it's a better idea to keep moving?" She had begun to fidget with the silver bangles at her wrists as she thought about the earlier attack. The habit was both one of nostalgia and nervousness. This time, she was exhibiting the latter.

[Rojo]

Rojo grunted and woke up momentarily
"Stop worrying. It'll be fine, we're not going to get killed in our sleep. SHadow wouldn't let us" he said into the cushion, so it muffled his voice. This had to be solid proof of Shadow's existance. Rojo wouldn't sleep if he knew they were in possible danger. He went back to sleep.

((Very short because there's not much to do at the moment...))

[Seven]

Well, unfortunately, neither of the two knew that Rojo wouldn't sleep if it weren't perfectly safe. Devon just blinks (Rojo always being the strange sight for him), before looking back to Evening. "Well, it's not like the middle of the forest has a village randomly thrown into it's center. And though I too have my worries about those creatures...I think we should be fine. Even if you don't believe in Shadow, I remember noticing that the Tigers could sense when those creatures showed up. If they were to come back, I imagine that the cats would probably all start moaning and crying again, which would alert us to their prescence.

As for where we are sleeping...." he said mysteriously with a little smile. When a gentleman was graced the prescence and company of a lady, he always has to be on his best behavior, no exceptions. He stood up, unfolding a row of seats on one side, letting it slide out to become a bed. "You'll sleep in the carriage; the rest of us will sleep outside. " Jenri was tempted to give a moan of protests. He didn't like sleeping in the cold. But at this point, he knew better than argue.

Devon hopped out of the carriage, nonchalantly dragging the once again sleeping Rojo with him. He didn't mean to disturb his friend, but he could not go against his morals. So abandoning him on the floor temporarily, he went to the back of the carriage to pull out something that looked like a set of blankets. He walked back over to Evening, handing them to her, "I think you'll find everything is in order. I'll give you your privacy then," he said with a charming chivalry. "Till the morn, Miss Evening," he said removing his hat and giving her a little nod. He never even gave her the chance to despute it--just like the bandages, she'd have no choice but to accept the accomadations he had provided.

Jenri continued to mumble angrily outside as he and Devon unlatched the harness of the tigers, each one going over to nuzzle Devon as they were released. After that was done, Jenri, with a sour face, went to take his blankets and lay off alone on the floor. Devon, not sure what to do with Rojo, lay down a blanket on the ground, and gently rolled him onto it and covered him with another blanket. Excellent, problem solved! Devon finally took his blankets, and went to go lay beside his oversized white tigers.