Disclaimers: All the characters in this fic is copyright of Karash, if there are any similarities between my characters and actual characters, it is purely coincidental. NPC characters and the Game Ragnarok Online belong to the Creators of Ragnarok.

Chapter Two

            Darin felt the abrupt change of climate slam hard against his skin. The asylum's temperature had been moderate, comfortably pleasant really, and the sweltering heat of Morroc made him itch in his tweed leggings. But still, he had a job to do and The Scribe takes his job very seriously. The three guildsmen started out into the desert where their head quarters was.
            "The price we pay for having an assassin as our guildmaster." Lucita sighed, fanning herself with her hand. "Why are you so keen on the desert Tommas?"
            "Sand men." The assassin grinned. "They provide protection from the bandits and they sometimes carry Katars."
            "It's a good thing Addy isn't in our guild anymore, she'd never be able to get past them." Kharnoz observed.
            "What about me?" The Scribe suddenly realized.
            "I'll handle the sand men while you make a break for the door." The wizard smiled reassuringly. The Scribe was not convinced of his safety, but there was no turning back now. Not while there were tales to write down.
            They walked under the blazing sun for what seemed like hours. Darin wasn't sure how much longer he could stand, when he saw the looming fort of The Schattenjägers.
            "Here they come!" Kharnoz yelled, brandishing his Claymore. Tommas had already leapt towards one of the sandmen and began hacking away at the creature.
            "Meteor Storm!!" Lucita cast. The Scribe didn't need to be told to run as the meteors descended. The monsters started to retreat, save for one stubborn sand man that decided to go after Darin.
            The Scribe glanced over his shoulder and saw the oncoming monster. Hating the idea of what he had to do, Darin took out a full inkwell and threw it at the sand man, instantly blinding it.
            "Double Straffe!!" Darin ducked in time as the slender projectile whizzed over him and straight for the sand man. The arrow's impact caused it to explode, showering The Scribe in grit.
            "You alright?" a hunter with chestnut colored hair asked, wearing a monocle and a Feather Bonnet. The sprawled Scribe looked up to find the hunter's hand, which he gratefully took to stand himself. Kharnoz, Lucita and Tommas arrived shortly after.
            "Hey Ollie, good to see you're back." The guildmaster greeted.
            "It got boring at Payon."
            "As heartwarming as this is, can we please go inside?!" The Scribe exclaimed.
            "Oh right!"

            At the dining hall, Kharnoz narrated his adventures to Darin, mostly tales of his bravery and his induction into the sacred order of the Knights. The Scribe jotted it all down without missing a beat. Tommas, Lucita and Ollie however had dozed off at some point.
            "So you never met Addy until today?" Darin clarified as he added the period to the last sentence.
            Kharnoz nodded, "I've only heard of her energy, and from that short encounter I can see they weren't exaggerating."
            "What this I hear about Addy?" a voice asked, making Darin almost fall out of his chair and rousing the three sleeping guild members.
            "Futari! I didn't know you were here." Kharnoz greeted the assassin who made himself visible. Futari removed his Sakkat and ran his fingers through his fiery red hair. Still, he kept his phantom mask on and set his headgear on the table.
            "Who's he?" the assassin motioned to Darin.
            "Oh, this is Dar, and he's looking for materials for his manuscript." The knight explained.
            "Actually, I'm making a compilation of stories. Particularly those that include a certain 'persimmon haired girl' named Addy." Darin added.
            "You remember her, don't you Futs?"
            "Yeah, I do." He nodded.
            "Great! So you don't mind sharing some of your stories with me? It doesn't have to be really personal, even trivial moments are fine." The Scribe urged.
            "I'm not a good story teller…"
            "That's alright, just start talking." Darin grinned, taking out a fresh roll of parchment and dipping his quill into the inkwell.
            "Okay, I met Addy…"


Futari

            Okay, I met Addy when I was still a thief and she was still a merchant. What, she's still a merchant? I didn't know that… oh well, never mind, where was I? Oh yes, I met Addy in Alberta, some jerk acolyte warped me there on purpose. Good thing I snatched his wallet, as a precaution because this has happened to me one too many times.
            I was making my way out of that port town, I don't really like the sea, it's too wet. This er… what was the term you used? Persimmon? That's like an orange colored fruit right? Honestly, I don't know why people make things sound so complicated. So I was trying to get out of town when this persimmon colored blur crashed into me. Now that I think about it, it was more of a bump than a crash because I was just nudged backwards.
            There was a loud 'oomf' and I saw this merchant sitting flat on the floor, her bag and all its contents scattered on the ground. She wasted no time in picking up her things, stuffing them back in her pouch and running towards the departing ferry. Turns out she had overslept and was in danger of missing the last ferry to Izlude. Well, she actually did miss the last ferry.
            It wasn't my problem, but she just looked so miserable, staring out at the sea like some lost puppy. I may be an assassin (formerly thief), but I pride myself in having a conscience. Tommas has a conscience too, you know. So do Zcij and Blitzkrieg, but they're not in our guild.
            Oh I'm getting off topic, it was because of my conscience that made me promise I'd accompany her to Prontera, I was supposed to be warped there in the first place. I really hate those acolytes who intentionally miswarp others, don't you?
            She accepted my invitation and we went on our way to Prontera. Of course along the way we exchanged names, me volunteering my name first then she gave me hers. At first glance, she was sorta shy and quiet. But it didn't take her long to open up. And when she did, whoa did she talk up a storm!
            I normally travel alone as I prefer to do things my way and go at my own pace, but being with Addy was… well… fun. I can't remember the last time I had laughed so much ever since I became a thief.
            She was really worried about her fighting abilities, even killing a lunatic made her feel like she had just beaten the legendary Angelring. She wasn't weak per say, she just didn't know how to handle herself in battles.
            I remember when we had gone to Culverts, we were both a little short on zenny. The job sounded easy enough, just clean out the sewers from the pests. There were dozens of us going into the sewers so I thought it would be an in-out job. How was I to know that there was tons of those thief bugs crawling everywhere?! And when a tarou brushed against Addy's foot I thought my head was going to explode from the pain! She had such a high-pitched shriek!
            Well as you can see my head didn't explode but I couldn't hear out of my left ear for an entire week. Her scream was that high and piercing. After the whole Culverts escapade, I learned never to go with her into the sewers again! Not that she wanted to go back in.
            When we went back to Prontera, we got separated. I don't know how actually, one minute she was bickering with another merchant about the price of carrots and the next she was… gone.
            I wasn't too thrilled in being alone again, but the independence was welcoming. I mean, I had to check if she was alright all the time. I'm not saying she's high maintenance, being with her just made me worry, you know what I'm saying?
            I don't like to worry, which is why I travel alone. But I missed being in a party, even if we were the only two people were in it. I could be the talkative one or I could be the listener, either way I just wanted a human presence.
            Many months later, almost a year really, I finally became an assassin. My guildmates had given me a Sakkat and a Phantom Mask as a gift to celebrate. It was a wonderful day, the sun was burning in all its glory over the sands. And I decided to teach those sand men a lesson. They almost killed me before, so it was payback time! Who would have thought my desire to get even with those monsters would result in a familiar persimmon colored blur to crash into me again.
            "Out of my way!! Out of my way!!" she had screamed. From where I was still standing, I could see three sand men approach us.
            "Just three?" I remember saying, then I easily took them out. Of course I was covered in grit thanks to the sand men, so when I came back to the girl she whacked me with the flat of her Ring Pommel Saber.
            "Aaaaaah! Keep away!! Keep away!!!"
            "Stop it!" I yelled, avoiding the awkward slashes she was making. Finally she stopped attacking me, and blushed in embarrassment when she realized I was a human.
            "I'm sorry. I- I kinda lost my head back there."
            "Well, it's alright, at least you didn't shriek like the time in Culverts."
            "Yeah, I… hey… how did you know about that?" she gasped, her gray eyes kinda bugging out. I started to laugh, I couldn't help it! If you just saw how funny she looked with her mouth open and her eyes almost popping out of her head, you'd laugh too. She didn't think it was so funny though, she actually managed to snatch my Sakkat off my head.
            When she saw my red hair she recognized me. I'm still not sure if that had been a good thing or a bad thing because she suddenly lunged at me! I thought she was gonna beat me up, instead she sorta got me into this chokehold that she tries to pass off as a hug. What did she call them…? Oh yeah, a "huggle." She might have been a mantis in a former life, the way her arms could crush your neck like that…
            Well because of that huggle, she saw the emblem on my collar, and then came these doe eyes. She looked up at me and sorta begged me to vouch for her, how was I supposed to say no to that? Addy can be very persuasive if she wanted to be. And being the softhearted person I am, I couldn't help but give in. I recommended her to Tommas, who actually knew Addy in the first place!
            Turns out she was on her way to meet Tommas in Morroc and got lost. Addy and I, we both had no sense of direction, it's something we're both proud of. I remember how we'd wander the forests of Payon for hours, only to find we had just gone in a circle. Addy would suddenly shriek loud enough for me to know where she was and I'd find poison spores were chasing her.
            Yeah… those were the days. And then Warse showed up and I hardly saw Addy again.
            She rarely visited us, and when she did the priest was always with her. This may be an overused phrase, but Warse was like her second shadow. I didn't mind personally, but it made all things guild related difficult to talk about when he was around.
            The guild was full and we weren't about to kick someone out just to accommodate Warse. I didn't really trust him all that much, and I'm a pretty trusting guy. I think it was how Warse would suddenly just be there, that made him seem a bit… well… suspicious. Not that I disliked the guy, I don't know him enough to. Addy sure seemed happy when he was around though, so I guess that was more important.


            "Hey all! Cid's back in the house!!" came a loud, gruff yell from the entrance. All the guildsmen, including The Scribe turned to the direction of the voice. Standing at the doorway, waving a wrapped weapon above his head was another knight.
            'What is it with Sakkats?' Darin wondered, eyeing the approaching green haired man.
            "Hey Cid, what's that you got there?" Tommas asked.
            "Gentlemen," he began, followed quickly by a cough from Lucita, "and Lady, you are looking at the lucky bastard who just managed to get a Wind Bastard Sword! Forged by Kikka to boot!" Cid grinned proudly.
            "No way!!! Kikka's always sold out! How did you get to be so lucky!?!?" Kharnoz gasped, remembering his own thwarted attempt at buying the one of the female blacksmith's coveted weaponry.
            "Hey, the gods make sure to take care of their own kind. And I am the Thunder God!" Cid winked, then noticed Darin with his parsley colored eyes. He unwrapped the Bastard Sword in the blink of an eye and had pointed it dangerously at The Scribe. Before Cid could demand an answer, Darin beat him to it.
            "I'm Darin, and I'm a Scribe. I'm currently on a journey to make a compilation of stories, would you care to be part of it?" he squeaked.
            Cid drew his weapon back and rested it onto his shoulders.
            "Nah, I don't have anything to say. Unless you'd like me to tell you how I got this beauty?" the boyish grin appeared.
            "Well… if it's not too much to ask, could you tell me about a former guildmate of yours?" Darin hoped. "Particularly one named Addy?"
            "Eh? Why me? Go and ask that Warse guy she's always with."
            "Don't you have anything to share about her? I mean, your other friends were kind enough to provide me with some anecdotes."
            The Scribe handed the rolls of parchment to the knight, and waited. A frown crossed Cid's face as he skimmed through the collected tales.
            "Are you serious? None of these show the Addy I know!"
            "Is that so…? If that's the case…" Darin nodded sagely, motioning the knight to an empty chair. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"
            Cid reluctantly sat down, waited until The Scribe had gotten his materials before he began to speak.