Finale to the Slavers arc, as it was promised. I suspect that Murky waters arc will follow, after a brief interlude again :D
Blood and gutters III
Craywin sat cross-legged under an old, twisted oak tree, hidden from any views in the thick shadow. His cloak was folded next to him, a bottle of sake on top of it. Leaning slightly on the hard bark, he peered at the myriad lights of the city below. While it was build without any proper order, in the night those faults are barely noticeable. After all, the Lion´s Arch he gazed upon right now was more akin to a shining gem on the shore of the sea than a shipwreck of a city, its lights visible far on the open sea.
The broken hill where he was right now overlooked a great part of the Lion´s Arch, but he was not there for the view. The light breeze was warm, a welcome thing in the mild cold of the night.
"This place hasn´t changed at all." Craywin broke the silence, shifting his gaze from the city to the neatly crafted stone set near the edge, few feet away from the place he was sitting.
It had been masterfully crafted to resemble a flower pup, which was mostly covered in thin vines and red leaves. Under the leaves, on a place none of the flower passed over, a name was inscribed, only the name and nothing more.
Carys
He looked at the stone piece and the name engraved upon it, a memory coming back to him, drawing a small smile on his bandaged face, his left eye glinting with dimmed mirth.
He was sitting on a bench, pack of cigarettes in his hand. He was waiting for Crank, who had gone off to buy himself something to eat, when she walked up behind him, putting her hands over his shoulders.
"I found Cray!" she said in that sing-song voice of hers.
Sighing, he looked to his right, ready to lecture her on proper manners in public. The sight of her face so close to his cut of his train of thoughts, her breath tickling his cheek. He immediately sprang back, out of her reach, much to her amusement.
"That's not funny." he chided as she sat down next to him, her lips still drawn in a smile. Sylvari merely laughed at his discomfort, mimicking his frown. Craywin shook his head, reaching out and flicking her forehead lightly, remarking with an aloof seriousness. "You wouldn´t want your face to be stuck like that, now would you?"
She rubbed the spot momentarily, beaming him another smile. He did not dislike the smiles. She had a pretty face, one perfect for smiling, just like her eyes always did. It had been a while since he had made an acquaintance as cheerful and ever beaming as her. Though, to be honest, he had not met many sylvari over his travels, seeing as they popped out of nowhere over the last two dozen of years. Aside from a few short talks he had with those few sylvari that had ended up in the Lion's Arch pubs by luck or misfortune, he didn't have much interaction with them.
"Where is our ever cranky friend?" She asked, leaning back on the bench.
"Off to get himself something to eat." he replied, pondering whether he really wanted to know why she was here or not. In the end, he guessed he´ll be rid of her sooner if he just asked. "Why?"
"I was thinking..." she started, for a moment actually sounding serious. He kept his poker face up, expecting her to say something silly as always, lighting a cigarette while waiting for her to finish. The whole last month spent working with her, as he and Crank weren't enough for the job, made him somewhat prepared for her. But nothing could have prepared him for her declaration. "Let´s form a guild!"
His poker face fell apart brilliantly when she suggested that, the cigarette falling from his open mouth. Half strangled noise of surprise was the best he could manage.
"It´s going to be great! Crank with his little devices, you as the serious scout and me to balance it all out. Great idea, don´t you think?"
Before he could answer, Crank came back and she dragged him into the conversation and plan making. Before he said anything, their little guild was formed on the sunny day in the middle of Divinity´s Reach.
Craywin´s smile diminished as the memory faded. He reached out and uncorked the bottle, pouring it down into two small cups. He set one before him, while he took up the other one, raising it in a toast.
"It's your favorite." he said, drinking down his own in one go. Pouring himself another cup, he continued. "I apologize for not visiting more often. I keep running away from some things. Not that you´d care, now would you? You never did blame anyone for anything that happened to you. Just another lesson to be learned, you´d always say."
He paused, downing another cup before filling it again, his expression sombre as he regarded the stone with sadness in gray eyes.
"I messed up again. Raima says that there was nothing I could do about it and Ashen seems to share the opinion, but I can´t help it. So, want to hear me out? I´ll drink with you, just like we used to... though this sake seems a bit salty. Can´t really tell why... but I won´t complain."
He raised another cup in toast before starting his story, his listener not interrupting him. In his opinion, that was quite unlike her, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
Damn... it really is... salty...