The Randomness

Impatiently tapping her fingers against the counter she was leaning back against, Surreal narrowed her eyes in frustration as she stared at all of the people flowing by. She had arrived in Dhemlan the night before and had spent the entire morning fruitlessly digging for information on her 'target'. Ten minutes ago however, she decided that she was going to stop entirely until she got some food. She'd only had a dinky little muffin for breakfast and was late for lunch as it was.

A small snarl was tugging at her lips as she waited for the elderly vendor to pull the meat pies off the heating rack. She was hungry. Consciously forcing herself she smoothed her features into a patient expression and stilled her tapping fingers. She glanced back at the thin little man who despite his age had a sort of youthful vitality. He was obviously not a Dhemlan, as his thatch of pale hair stood up on end and his light blue eyes were narrowed in fixed concentration as if his staring alone would see to it that his meat pies would come out perfect.

"Hey, you should hurry up with those meat pies, Thesan. The lady looks hungry," the quiet male voice somehow carried to them under the din of the passing strangers and the calls inviting customers to the other stalls in the market place she stood in. Surreal jerked her head around so that she could rake a quick glance over the male who had somehow gotten within a few arms length without her being aware of it. Her shades hid her eyes as she stared at the man who casually leaned against the wall that extended beyond the counter. He stood up straight and favored her with a slight bow, when he noticed her looking his way.

Glacian perhaps? Nice build, doesn't look terribly muscular but he doesn't do a bad job of filling out those clothes. Nice face too. He needs to be careful, or he'll find himself belonging to some bitch queen. They have a thing for the exotic and he's obviously not from around here with that coloring. That's what got Titian in trouble… She turned her attention back to the plate Thesan was just taking out of the oven.

"Cal! You'll never guess what I found out this morning!!!" the old man exclaimed, waving around the platter of meat pies he had just lifted up, causing Surreal to momentarily fear for the fate of her lunch. She gave a quiet sigh when the man settled the plate on top of the counter and the pale man must've noticed her relief because his smile briefly widened at her before he responded to the invitation in Thesan's gleeful voice.

"That old merchants talk too much?" he hazarded, struggling not to laugh at the affronted look on his old friend's face.

"If you're going to be that way about then I'm not going to tell you," the balding man snapped peevishly.

"Pity that." The platter with the pies was jerked closer to Surreal, with a force that made her wonder if her relief was going to be short lived.

"And I'm not going to let you have any pies either!" this wiped the smile from the younger man's face and he actually leaned back against the wall again, with a sulky expression. "Ha, got you that time didn't I boyo?"

"Fine. Yes, you have me there. Now what is this wonderful news that is completely endangering my chances of eating anything worthwhile today, old man?" the slight hint of amusement returned to the man called Cal's face.

"Well, listen up," the old man leaned over the barrier so that he could lower his voice to a more confidential tone and stared around as if afraid that anyone else was going to overhear. As if they could through all this racket. Surreal smiled and took a plate with all of the meat pies she wanted and settled down to wait until she could regain the gossiping males' attention once more. I like them. I don't know them but the Darkness have mercy, I like them. The thought made her shake her head ruefully.

"As I hear it there were some uninvited guests sneaking into the woods west of here. Well they started acting up and I hear they got a visit from our friend, the Hunter. So what do you think about that?" Surreal's ears pricked up at this and she began to listen more closely.

"Hearsay Thesan, did anyone actually see him?" the younger man looked suddenly bored.

"What's that got to do with anything?" the puckish old man demanded querulously, "That fellow is a hero who's keeping those slimy Hayllian bitches out of my land!"

"You sound as if you know him personally," Surreal observed breaking a flaky corner off of one of the meat pies, daintily nibbling on the piece as she closely watched the vendor's reaction.

"What are you talking about missy? No one knows him! No one's seen him!"

"Yet you refer to this person as 'him'. You sound so certain, but what makes you think 'he' can't be a 'she'?" Surreal asked curiously, making the man start dancing around in annoyance, waving one bony finger at her.

"What?! What do you mean? Of course he's a he! That's how those stupid guards always come back telling everyone that they were attacked by a male, and why would any woman want to be called the Hunter, I ask you?" Does the old fool realize just how close his finger is to my mouth? Surreal wondered, hooking her hair behind her delicately pointed ear. He seemed to suddenly realize the same thing because he quickly snatched his finger back. She shoved the plate of meat pastries closer to Cal before bending toward the old man and began to speak very slowly and precisely.

"So what? A woman can do anything a man can. More if you count what a relatively dark jeweled black widow priestess with big brothers or something would be able to do. Anything she couldn't do with her own hands she could do with craft. Moreover she'd be able to create a tangled web that would make a man think another male had attacked him."

"You know she has a point, Thesan!" Cal observed with a grin, knowing it would annoy the little man. It worked. The old man's legs pumped faster and his face turned red with the effort. Surreal noticed a unit of Hayllian guards turn the corner down the street.

"What are you talking about?! She doesn't have a point! She's slandering that man's name with her wild speculation! You listen here missy, I'll have you know-"

"I'll have you know something old man," Surreal cut in quietly, silencing the vendor, "I've heard there's a contract out on this Hunter, man or woman, so have a care about seeming too approving in public. Besides, there are guards heading this way so ix-nay alright?" Her new acquaintances jerked at the information but didn't look around to try to verify her words.

"Mother night," the amusement left the younger man's face with this muttered comment, making him seem older than he had a couple of minutes before. The old vendor seemed subdued as well, no longer dancing in agitation but quietly setting up his new wares.

Surreal was about to say something to break the silence when she noticed another man with pale hair moving through the crowd. She knew that wasn't significant in a city this size because there were plenty of strangers that were pale who would pass through. However for a second, he had turned his head and she had seen his delicately pointed ears. He looked like a male Titian, and was the only other person from her mother's people that she had ever seen before. She quickly called in a wallet and dropped a couple of gold marks on the counter, and grabbing her plate with the pies dived into the crowd after the figure, ignoring the shouts following after her.

She lost him. How could I have lost him? I know that there are plenty of people who are fair but still they stick out in a Dhemlan city.  She growled in frustration. This had just not been her day. First of all she had wasted the morning trying to find anything at all out about Hunter. Then, just when she had finally found someone who had heard something about him, or her, some Hayllian guards come along making everyone clam up. Then she saw one of her mother's people but before she could get to him he disappeared in the sea of strangers. Damn! Damn! And double damn!

 Surreal was so busy being annoyed with the way events had been unfolding recently that she wasn't even paying attention to where she was going. Which is exactly the reason that she ran into the wall of flesh that knocked her flat on her butt. She shoved her glasses firmly back on the bridge of her nose with her wrist and turned her head up to hurl abuse at the person that been careless enough to collide with her. For the second time that day she found herself staring at a handsome male.

The tall man was wearing black skintight pants that left very little to the imagination with a black leather vest that accommodated his wings and displayed a spectacularly built chest. His black hair was cut short and his gold eyes gleamed down at her. His tanned skin extended tautly over rippling muscles that added to his perfect build, not too small, but not bulging either. His wide shoulders blocked the sun from her view. But that was okay with her as it gave her the freedom to admire the package before her without having to squint.

Snapping his membranous wings out to their full span before snapping them close to his body, the handsome Eyrien bent down and picked up a piece of material from the ground. He'd taken in her entire appearance with a glance and the annoyance on his face transformed into a cheerfully leering smirk. Without rising from his bent over position he tossed it back towards the stall. Then he wrapped strong fingers around her upper arms he straightened up, drawing Surreal to her feet as he did so. She soon realized that not only had he not released her arms, but also that upon reaching her feet she was standing close enough to feel the warmth from his body. She was less than a foot and only that because of the plate of pies she had miraculously managed not to drop.

He pursed his perfectly sculpted lips at her before opening his mouth to speak in a seductively husky voice that shivered dangerously along her spine.

"Nice shades. Wanna fuck?"

Surreal blinked. Pity I'm not willing to endanger my food, or I'd have to kill him for that. Then again, it takes a certain flair to make a statement like that sound that seductive. Besides he has such a pretty face. All of these thoughts passed through her mind in an instant and she arched a brow coquettishly at him before replying in a sultry voice that was designed to make a man melt, "Tell me sugar, are you always so irritating, or are you just being stupid?" Surreal thought she heard a snigger coming from the crowd behind her but since her attention was focused on the male still attached to her arms she didn't want to risk turning around and give him an opportunity to try something.

The Eyrien's eyes briefly widened at her question and he looked disappointed for a full second before his smirk returned in full force. He propelled her toward the stall that he had tossed the material toward. "Ouch. You know what? Since your outfit got dusty when you fell down maybe you should get a new one." He held up a bit of saffron material next to her body and looked at her, considering. "Hm yes, this would go quite nicely with your coloring. So would this crimson," he added holding the scrap of sample material. Surreal just took a large bite out of her pastry.

 "Although you know what would look really good on you?" he asked digging through the small pile with one hand, the other still lightly encircling her arm. He slanted her a heated look that made her smile faintly. He was serious without taking himself seriously. She was beginning to enjoy the man's style of outrageous flirting. "Me."

"Today, Saevus is being stupid," a snickering baritone voice spoke up from behind her.

"Get lost Ra!" the warlord prince growled, straightening and shifting his weight to the balls of his feet. Surreal turned around slowly, making sure that she was turned to where she could watch the owner of the new voice and the guy called Saevus.

The man was tall and lean with dark brown hair and eyes the exact same shade. He had high slashing cheekbones; a clean-cut jaw and his well-shaped lips were curved in a slightly vicious smirk. Is white shirt was only slightly lighter than his skin and was a sharp contrast to the charcoal colored pants and burgundy colored coat he wore. Hm, these two should be careful as well, some woman might be looking for a play pretty and settled on one that has a little experience behind him…

 Noticing the something male passing between the Eyrien and the stranger she sighed, deciding not to say a thing or let go of her plate lest she loose control and smack them both to break up whatever was going on between them. Instead she contented herself with sticking the last bit of her lunch into her mouth before saying, "I'm just going to move along now and let you be manly at each so that you can see just who gets impressed first. I really need to find that guy with the pointy ears so if you'll excuse me-"

"Pointy ears? A real pale guy with pointy ears?" the stranger was immediately distracted from the insult he was about to fling at his friend.

"Ozmyndaeus? Oh, man you'll never catch him! He just comes in every once in a while on business and then he leaves for his own territory. He never stays longer than he can help and even when he's in town, if he wants to talk he'll come to you."

"For once, Saevus here is right miss. He's gone. Of course if you really need to make an appointment you could ask around and see if Banighe or Zetahn know how to reach him. You'll have an easier time getting in touch I think with Banighe. He's at the Nonesword Tavern. Just go in and ask for Dawnivan Banighe."

"Or I could show you the way," Saevus cut in with a winning smile. Surreal couldn't keep herself from busting out laughing.

"You are persistent, I'll give you that much, sugar," she grinned, before shaking her head. "No thanks though, I know the way."

"Besides, you aren't allowed back inside for another couple of months at least. Not until you…" he was cut off by a dangerous growl coming from the Eyrien.

"Get lost Ra!" Saevus gritted out causing the brunette to grin mischievously before he offered his arm to Surreal. This was getting fun…

A/N: Sorry, Surreal was slightly OOC for this chapter. At any rate, here's some of the randomness, you may expect the accompanying sexiness in the next chapter or so. ^.^ Also if anyone would like a notification when this is updated let me know so I can make a mailing list please.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Thanks for Reviews*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Grimsister: I realize that Morwyn is easy to play… Morwyn is just plain easy o_O. At any rate the THE in my stories is to get freaks to ask me about it. Guess what you qualified! Bwahahahaha! No seriously though, thanks for your reviews although you better leave Lucivar alone! He knows where you sleep when you spend the night! ^.~

Elektra: Thanks, I'll try to live up to your expectations. I wasn't planning on having Daemon come in during this story although Lucivar is. If it doesn't require rewriting the entire plot though I might sneak him in. Thank you for the review.

Raksha: Yes she will meet her target soon. I'm sorry I didn't get this chapter out as soon, but I was working on a humor fic at the time as well and it was totally throwing off my groove man. At any rate, I still haven't quite gotten back into the right mind frame… as you may have noticed with this chapter, but I've decided that even though this isn't my main fic I'll try to update at least once a week. The dark winds blow pleasant visions your way, sister.

bAd-KiTTe422: Thank you for your review. I will be hopefully updating more frequently on this one. It pleases me that you like it.

Sitara: I hope I didn't get too ooc on Surreal in this one, I'm still recovering from a bout of humor. I'm glad you liked the way I wrote the last 2 chapters I will try to keep it original without getting too much like or too far a field from the book. But thanks for the input.
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Ok shameless plug time: First off, (this goes first or Grimmara will have a hissy fit later, I wuv u!) Dark Fools has a new chapter up and it's a story written by Grimsister and me but it's posted under her so you might check it out. Um you might read, my Priceless Jewels fic, it stars the DBZ and DJ cast and is set mostly in Kaeleer. Also I have a choose your own adventure fic that's DBZ but it's a humor that doesn't even bother following the plotline so it doesn't matter if you know the characters or not. It's called When Did THAT Happen?!?! if you're interested. There is also Raksha's fic Dark Jewels if you haven't read it, it gets really good, especially if she would go ahead and post chapter 9. She also has a really cool DBZ story as well called Secret Past.