Where is he?

Her eyes scanned the abandoned tavern with a look of dread, by now having already memorized the whole decor. There was a bar that took up a good half of the room, made of some dark-colored wood. Shelves lined the wall behind it, but those had been long empty of anything but dust and cobwebs. The second half of the room was outfitted with the same kind of wood. Chairs and square tables were spread evenly along the area. Those too were covered with dust, but that was expected from a place that hadn't seen business since the ending of the war.

The upstairs had about ten rooms for living. One room in particular had obviously been owned by the owner of the building, because it's layout was much nicer. But none of them had anything very interesting in them, just beds a few other amenities for living.

She leaned her elbow on a table, cupping her head in her palm. Her blonde hair was out of sorts. She usually pulled it back to keep it out of her eyes, but right now it looked bedraggled as it flowed all the way past her shoulders. She imagined she must look pretty bored right now, with her eyes dreary with a lack of sleep. They'd traveled many days non-stop just to get here on the appointed day, and for what? To wait? To twiddle their thumbs? This was ridiculous.

Glancing at her companion, he seemed to contemplating the same thing she was. He spoke:

"Can't believe he's wasting our time like this...they wanted us to meet here and work this out, but how can we if they never show up!?" He thumped his fist angrily onto the table he was sitting at, and stood up to face her.

"When that snobbish prince gets here...he's got some explaining to do." he continued.

He balled his fist up again, and he looked like he might take another swing at the table. Not sure if the old rotting table could take another hit, she sat up and moved over to him to try and settle him.

"Makus...you've got to calm down. If you get angry at him, this meeting will just be waste."

"It's going to be a waste anyways if he doesn't show." Makus replied angrily, but he sat back down and unfurled his fist. He crossed his arms and went back to muttering under his breath. She shook her head at him, irritated at his temper.

Suddenly a boy bust through the door. She and Makus both leaped up, and positioned themselves to attack the invader. The boy shrieked, and lifted him arm in surrender, muttering gibberish they could not understand. Only then did the pair recognize the identity of the boy. Both put their arms down from their bending position and relaxed back into their seats

"Sorry about that..." Makus said "We're a bit high-strung. What do you have to report?"

The boy was still very shaken up. He took his time speaking, rarely looking directly at them. "I-I...watched th-the coast like told me to. I kept my eyes out for any strange people coming in. I saw a-a-a, a man shipwreck there wearing all black."

She turned to Makus "Good. At least we know he's coming."

Off to the side, the boy added 'Ex-excuse me...there's more." Both of them turned towards him with curious glances. "A little later...a woman showed up too. Same spot, same clothing."

They both waited for more, but the boy had stopped speaking and had his eyes glued to the floor.

"Well?" Makus asked angrily "Where'd she go?"

The boy looked up in fear. "I-I dunno! I followed the man like you said! She went a different way an-and I lost track of her."

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, she remarked "You can go now. You've had a tough day."

Once the door shut, she spoke again: "At least the shadowbender finally showed up...though I'm not sure why there's two."

"They must not trust us." Makus scoffed. "Figures."

She stood up, her mind filled with curiosity about the shadowbenders. Since they always lived isolated from one another, rarely did they get the chance to see one another. She knew their bending was similar to their own, and she knew as much as scrolls could teach her about them, but seeing them was much different.

"I'm going to go look. I want to see this guy before we meet him formally. Maybe I'll be able to catch a glimpse of the other shadowbender too." Makus nodded, and she headed for the door.

Before she left, Makus put an arm on her shoulder. She stopped, turned, and looked at him curiously.

"Just make sure to be careful Lily. They're a shifty bunch. Don't trust them."

Lily nodded slowly, and a second later she was through the door and out into the crowded streets of the city.