candle in the window

Hope is like a box of chocolates, your favorite ones are always eaten before you can get to it.

Chapter 20

The port town of Luwa was bright, booming and surpirsingly dry. Rune rubbed his hands together. They were already getting chapped, like the air was sucking the mostiure right out of his skin. How very unpleasant. The people, however, seemed very happy and so full of life.

Laughing children raced past him in the street, lifting his sash in their wake. The former elf smiled, brushing the fine cloth free of wrinkles. The same delicate hand reached up to brush back a stray strand of spun gold from his face, when green eyes noticed something.

The dragon knight of water stopped to watch a young man, who seemed nearly frantic, looking for some thing. He was a strapping young man of 20 years and a tan like rawhide. His dark hair was a bit wild, kept in check only by an oddly wrapped head band. The man went from person to person talking to them.

"Have you seen a girl about this high?" The young man raised his hand to a hight just below his shoulder. "She looks like a rage doll and throws rocks." His dark blue eyes were full of concern and defeat as the third person in a row shook his head, no. "Thanks anyway." he mummbled.

Rune felt sorry for the man but hadn't seen a girl throwing stones. Also, he had his own duty to proform here. Distractions could only cause problems and Kai-Stern and all of them needed solutions. The golden haired knight joined the direction of the city goers.

"Hey! You." The blond had only breifly heard the brunet's voice but it was quite unique to the former elves ears and so he recognized it immediately. Not only that, it was directed toward the water dragon knight. Rune paused and looked around, maybe he was talking to someone else.

"Yeah, you the pretty one." The man insisted, coming closer. Green eyes blinked, he can't be talking to me, not used to being targeted. "Have you seen a plain lookin' girl about your height, but...with more muscles." dark blue eyes looked him over.

"Excuse me?" the water dragon knight no longer pitied this man. "I have plenty of muscle." he defended.

"Don't take it so hard." the guy waved a tanned hand at him. "You're a girl, you're not supposed to be buffed out like me." The brunet flexed a his arms, posing. Of all of the rude, borish, brainless...Rune fumed.

"Listen, you were probably raised by dolphins so you don't know how to talk to civilized people. But if you want to get any help finding your girl friend, who probably ran away and I can't say I blame her, you're going to have to use a little thing civilized people call manners."

"You talk a lot." The brunet swabbed his ear with his pinky and half looked away, disinterested.

"Why you..."

"Corca!" A high pitched voice peirced the noisy crowded streets. The tanned man perked up, presumably hearing his name.

"Corca, corca, corca!"

A party of three young, individuals of varying but similar ages under ten, scrabbled and squeezed out of the crowd of tourists from the inland. A few voices of protest and dissatisfaction from the crowd resulted in passing comments and juvinal gestures from the boys as the youngest of the three approched Corca with somthing delicately cupped in his hands.

"What is it?" The dark haired man knelt before the youngest.

"We were playing around the cliff shrine."

"Not around the shrine just the cliff, get it right."

"Shut up and let the kid tell the story." the taller boy shoved the shorter boy.

"I won't shut up, you shut up." they were nose to nose now, shouting.

"Wanna make me." they growled for a moment, glaring at each other.

"Ahh!" the shorter boy leaped at the taller and they proceded to roll around on the dusty ground.

"Anyway, we were up there and then this thing was sparkling under the dirt." the smallest and probably youngest started again.

"The lady led us to it don't forget that." the other two had apperently stopped fighting to join in the conversation.

"What lady?" Corca asked.

"Ah, don't listen to him." the short one waved a hand at the tanned man. "Pips and me never saw any lady did we Pips?" the smallest one shook his head. "That's right and Quinne here's been goin' on about some windy girl ever since we found this thing." he stuck his thumbs in his ears and waved his fingers for emphasis.

"I did see her." the tallest boy blushed, defending himself.

"You ask me," the small one continued, ignoring the taller one. "I think Quinne's bald head caught the sun at the wrong angle and fried his brain." The medium height child whipped the hankercheif off the taller boy's head and rapped his knuckles on the boy's skull.

"Shut up, It's growing back." tall one covered his head with one hand and snatched the hankercheif back with the other.

"No, you shut up." the short one growled.

"Make me!"

"AHH!"

"What is it Pips?" the leather skinned man touched the boy's shoulders and asked him with patience and sincere interest. "Wha'd you find?"

"He didn't find it, I did." they stopped fighting again to fight over who could give the most accurate information.

"No. I did. I saw the girl, and she showed it to me."

"Pips just picked it up. I'm the one who told him to."

"No, I found it."

"Shut up!" the shorter kid pushed the taller.

"No, you shut up!" he growled back.

"Make me!"

"Ahh!"

With out saying anything, the smallest child opened his hands and showed Corca what he was carrying. Rune was finding it difficult to turn away from this little drama. The blond leaned closer because he couldn't see what the child had. The tanned man gasped and took it from the boy, whatever it was.

Rune straightened, this was just getting embarassing, he should just go and forget he ever...Corca's face twisted with despiration and fury. He grabbed the child by the shoulders and all the boy's focused on him.

"Tell me, Pips." His eyes demanded the truth alone. "Where did you get this?"

"We told you..."

"Quiet!" He shouted at the boys and both of them cupped their hands over their mouths. "Pips?!"

"It was...It was on the cliff, over gale shrine." the boy was trembling and fear was in his eyes. Corca shook his head and let go of the boy.

"Are you sure?" Those dark eyes looked more gentle now. Good thing to. Rune was not about to allow abuse of any innocent. The boy nodded his response.

"Thanks guys." The tanned man opened his arms wide with a small smile on his face. The three smiled and came to his embrace. "This will help a whole lot." he gave the boys a squeeze before he stood and ran off to some where. What a strange man.

"Hey."

"Huh?"

"I've never seen you before but you seem to be real interested in Corca."

"What? Me?"

"I'm looking right at'cha aren't I?"

"But..."

"I don't know who you are but don't fall in love."

"In love?!"

"That's right. If you try anything and Zell comes back, well..." the boy was smug as he drew his thumb accross his neck. "She doesn't like compatition."

"I don't think that's a problem." Rune waved a hand as he made his walked away. He looked at the small map telling him the location of..."The Dancing Krill." The blond stopped as his stomach growled. The proper knight looked around, embarassed. No one seemed to notice, good. "I hope they serve some good food there, I'm a bit hungry."