candle in the window

Don't own 'em, don't plan to, dispite how much I might want it (pout).

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Chapter 2

"Ugh!" Kai-Stern cupped a hand over half his face to sheild from the morning light. "Note to self." he swung his legs over the side of his bed. "'House special at the Dancing Krill equals indigestion and...hang over?'" He hadn't had one of those for a very long time. "Was it that bad?"

The albino of frost white hair and light yellow eyes fished his glasses off the bed stand. He moved carefully so as not to disorient his already tortured senses. The window was open thankfully so the blue dragon officer sat on the sill and decided to just figure out how the breathing thing works again, without the bubbles of foul breath.

The sun was so bright here in the costal town of Luwa. Clear days like this weren't uncommon but hightly prized. For, there have been as many clear days in the past two years as there have been vicious storms. Many believed that there is a terrible demon exacting revenge for the over fishing in the territory. But no one really knows for sure.

Kai-Stern arrived late last night in the middle of one of those storms. Fortunately he found this tavern/inn, or unfortunately as the stomach might argue. *Urp* Well, nothing's going to happen if he stares out this window all day. So...*tick*

"Huh?" the white haired man turned back. *tick* his attention was drawn to a tiny pebble rolling down the shingles just below his window. Light yellow eyes looked to see who might be throwing it just in time to dodge a stone flying at his face.

"Woah!" it crashed into the closet door and Kai-Stern heard a mirror crack on the other side. He winced. Good arm. He dared to look out again, cautiously. A young woman maybe sixteen years old made an angry face before she was chased off by the inn keeper.

"Zel! Stop that!" The inn keeper, "You'll ruin my buisness," the large beared man looked up at his albino guest.

"I'm so sorry!" he hollered. "Why don't I treat you to breakfast as an apology."

"Uh!" that didn't sound like a good idea, his belly still hadn't forgiven him for the last meal he had. "Well, ah..." how to reject politely?

"Come down then and set a spell, we'll talk." The man waved and went inside.

"Well, okay." the food he could ditch but the talk could give him some answers. After all, to find information you must go to the people who are most effected by the problem. Perhaps Zel was one of those people.

"She didn't break anything did she?" the inn keeper rubbed his bushy hair as he watched Kai-Stern pick at his plate of meat and grease. Did that just move?

"Ah," he kept an eye on it just in case, "I didn't look but I heard the closet mirror break when the rock hit the door."

"Oh," his shoulders slumped. "Well I'm glad you weren't hurt." the man brightened, even thought he hadn't asked if Kai-Stern was hurt or not.

"Right," the frost haired man slid the plate aside satisfied that everything on it was dead. "You said you wanted to talk. Can you tell me, who is that girl and why she was throwing stones?" he sipped his drink. Fruity!

"Wizellie," he big man sighed, polishing some glasses. "She's lost her parents this last year, please don't blame her. She doesn't know who to deal with it."

"That's fine, but Why me?" Kai-Stern understood completely what it's like to lose someone close and how it can effect your personality but there's always another reason for attacking someone.

"It's the storms you see...She feels the storms would go away if we didn't have any tourists. She tries to run off anybody that comes into town that don't own a home here. Like she can stop the storms with her two hands if she stopped tourism or somethin'." the man explained.

"Tourism?"

"Yeah, about two years ago I think it was there was a bunch of strangers that came and went the same day. They went all the famous tourists spots and never gave a penny to the venders around here but the very next day the storms started." He leaned close to the blue dragon officer and told him secretly. "I think they stole some things, important things that keep the spirits calm."

"Spirits?"

"Yeah," He leaned back and wiped at the bar's wood surface. "It's well known the water dragon of the east came here and..."

"Are you telling that story again?" A strapping man of 20 years walked in with a load of fish over his shoulder. "Don't listen to him mister you'd be better off touring the coast, you'd hear better stories for sure."

"Now Corca you know that's no story, history that is. The dragon of the east..."

"Fell in love with the maiden of the west but the fire of south and northern earth became jealous of their love and forced them apart and bla bla bla..." the sea green haired young man waved a tanned hand at the whole mess.

"It's true," the inn keeper pounded his hand on the bar. Kai-Stern steadied his glass. "The north and south can never meet because no matter how fire tries it can never be apart of earth but wind and water always mixed, and so meet half way..."

"This sounds more like a birds and bees talk than a legend old man." The boy flopped the fish behind the bar and jumped over. "Where do you want these?"

"Now listen here," the bearded man inisted.

"Yeah, I know the fire boilled the seas so that the wind was forced out of water." The man brushed off.

"But water was turned in to steam by the flames and joined the wind in the skys till," this was like seeing them competeing on who could tell the story better.

"Yeah, till fire denied them of heat all together so the cold forced the water down to earth." They were nose to nose yelling the story at the other person who was probably only listening so he could interupt the other.

"Earth grabbed water and forced it to the ground and water has been lost ever since." They stared each other down, presumably because they didn't have anymore story to tell. They just breathed at each other now.

"So," the young man broke eye contact, "Where do you want the fish?"

"In the back." the old man poked a thumb in the general direction.

"That's an odd story, I don't think I've ever heard it before." Kai-Stern told the innkeeper.

"What you heard?" The bearded man blinked. the albino nearly fell over, he forgot I was here?

"Yes." the blue dragon officer noticed he spilled some of his drink, fruity? "I've never heard a story of the elements fighting over love." He took the last sip, fruity.

"Well, that's the story my great, great..."

"Great," the young man's voice was somewhat muffled from the back room, "great, great, GREAAAAT, great grandfather told him!"

"I'm warnin' you!" the big man's fist waved.

"Long time ago." The albino looked at his empty glass.

"Yeah, and the story has never gotten around because of narrow minded people like Corca there who'll listen and just won't bother to tell it to anyone else, or they'll forget it right quick."

"Is that true?" Kai-Stern asked.

"I think so." he scratched his hairy chin and pondered this.