The Establishment of The Exchange

Zeiss seems confused.

"Then why are you running? We should go back to the wagon and protect it. My bodyguards are not as useful as your magic."

*Z's cowl starts smoking a little. You aren't entirely sure what to make of this. She throws you a super disgruntled look and a hurmph and doubles up her speed.*

"Wa-Wait! You stupid...!"

Zeiss sighs. Then follows after her.

*Z turns back with a snarl.*

"What!"

*She has flames flipping around her fingertips.*

Zeiss stops his horse.

"Whoa! Just... don't throw any fireball at me."

He searches for his words, worried.

"...We should not split. Not now."

*Z stops turns and jogs back over.*

"Okay fine."

*She holds out a hand for a lift up, catching sight of the flames for the first time. She yanks her hand back and shakes it furiously and the flames go out. This strikes you as a bit odd, but *shrug* you don't know too much about magic right *

After considering Z's change of behaviour (and made sure she would not attack him), Zeiss extends his hand to her.

"Climb on. And try not to burn me please?"

*Z is still slightly smoldery and you notice there is a flame spouting off of her knee, but its not hot to the touch.*

"I'm not planning on attacking you."

*She grumps at you.*

mumbling:

Zeiss freezes. Then says, a little amused :

"Then what about the flames coming out of your knee?"

"Oh BY THE EIGHT!"

*She smacks at her knee snuffing the flames out.*

"Just ignore that...."

Zeiss smiles a little.

"Good thing I saw that before you set my horse on fire."

Once again, he extends his hand.

"Get on, we need to go back. Your friend Milli must be worried."

Spoiler:

*Z laughs a little.*

"Oh it doesn't burn stuff just freaks people out."

*She lays her hand on your arm bright orange flames crackle along her fingertips and over your arms a bit. There is no more heat than the heat from her hand. After a few seconds for you to get the impact of this she takes her hand and swishes it about to get rid of the flames.*

"Hey... that's not normal isn't?"

He looks worried, not sure what to think of it.

"Well, if it only freaks people out, it's okay then."

He pauses. Then says unconvincingly :

"I am not freaked out."

*Z looks a bashful and mumbles something you don't quite catch.*

"What did you say?"

Zeiss, still on his horse, leans forward to hear her better.

"Its part of my... condition."

*She hisses the last word*

"Tends to get more pronounced when have to deal with idiocy."

Zeiss looks at Z. Then at the refugees all around them. After a while, he reports his attention on her.

"I'll try not to make you angry then. Now... hop on."

Rainbow gets her head out of his pocket and produces a few "Mheee! Mhee mhee!" directed towards the mage.

*Z climbs up behind Zeiss, petting Rainbow, and holding on a bit.*

"Hold on."

He goes back to the wagon, trying his best to not run over the refugees along the way. He whispers :

"There are so many of them..."

"These are only a handful of the people who populated the Stonehold area. And this ... what has been done to these people... is... an atrocity..."

*Her tone has gone extremely cold, quiet, and filled with disgust and the flame on her knee which she still hasn't managed to snuff out quite yet is now burning a hot white-blue.*

" SICKENING. Stonehold is no warmongering state, no more so that the group was. The people there are simple, reverent, peace-loving innocents. They were outcast by the 'greater' nations for their lifestyle. A lifestyle that was termed barbaric and savage simply because it was different, simpler. These people..."

*She gestures around you and you notice her fingertips are turning the color of charcoal glowing red in fire and flames are beginning to leap up from their tips again.*

"These people lived their lives and worked their farms. They raised their children and cared for their elderly and sick. They lived lives of honor."

Zeiss stays quiet for some time after Z finishes to talk. Then whispers again :

"I do not think we should be the ones to possess the Skyclaw... But I would gladly use it to destroy the Naverre's and Sho's fleet. What they did to these people was..."

He searches for a word that would describes correctly what he means.

"... stupid."

"It was unnecessary."

*She spits the word.*

"This is what I meant... wha-?"

He sees that Z is literally burning up. Nervously, he looks around.

"Hey, there are other people around... can you stop these flames? You might frighten them."

*Z looks down at herself, cursing.*

"bIHnuch."

*And as you watch the flames literately snuff themselves out as if the air were sucked out from around them. There is no trace of the flame besides a slight charred look to her knuckles.*

Zeiss looks over his shoulder at Z's face, uneasy.

"Okay, I thought I should not pry about your past more than I already did but frell that, if you don't want to talk to me, just don't. You are thirty-five and yet you look like a teenager. Not only that, but you also are a you-know-what and yet the fairies in our group could not detect your nature. And now you are burning up when you get angry. Can you help me understand who you are exactly?"

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