Chronicles of Haladway: Treasured Tales

Cerys' gaze fell on the warehouse. From what she could see the man was right, there was no entry point for a thief. But just because there didn't appear to be an entrance didn't mean there wasn't one. "We'll have to come back a little early to scope out the joint..." she concluded silently, already forming some sort of plan for when they stood guard later. When she was sufficiently pleased with her brief look-over, she returned her attention to Tegan and the man. Both exchanged some foreign language before Zifaric excused himself to return to the warehouse; Cerys quirked an eyebrow. "That certainly was an interesting exchange." she commented quietly, wondering just what the language was. It certainly wasn't anything she had encountered thus far–definitely not from her world either.

"Hm?" Tegan looked towards Cerys, a questioning eyebrow raised before he realized what Cerys meant. "Oh, that . . . Um." He glanced away for a moment, eyes searching the ground, before he looked back at her with a more apprehensive expression. "You don't have anything against zeylfaen do you? I mean, I know not a lot of people speak it but, uh . ." Tegan's right fingers fell against his wine glass, wondering if he was suddenly about to go back on the streets again. Some people were really touchy about these things. 'I guess she's right. People here can be abrasive.'

Cerys' lips pursed into a thin line–this was something new entirely. "It's impossible to be against something you don't know anything about." she stated plainly, her face returning to its normal stoicalness. Perhaps it would be best to explain herself before letting him assume anything more; it would make everything easier in the long run. "I'm not against anything from here–I'm not the type."

Tegan's head tilted to the side. He got the feeling he wasn't quite understanding what she was getting at, but it made more sense now that she was a foreigner. "Okay then." If she didn't know anything about it, he supposed there was no harm in explaining the phrase. "It's a typical farewell in zeylfic. It basically means 'Zeylten guide you', for the layperson. More formal when you use the gesture too." He demonstrated it again for her, placing his hand where he had before and tipping his head to her. "You see?"

"I see." she said quietly, watching Tegan intently. The action itself was simple and it's meaning was fairly basic, she repeated it once afterwards to show she fully understood. But it seemed that Tegan still was unaware of what she had intended to get across, so much for subtlety. "I feel it's important that you know, for future situations like this, that I'm not from around here–this world–and unfortunately I've not been here long enough to pick up on the customs. My home doesn't exactly have traits like this one, at least... they're not as defined." she explained, keeping her silver-blue eyes locked on his. "I hope that isn't an issue–I'll try and learn the culture as quickly as possible."

The drunkard blinked. Not from this world? He wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly until she kept talking about it. He looked down at the bottle hanging off his hip. Maybe he was more inebriated than he thought? That would certainly be a feat, considering he felt fairly normal. Gazing at her again, he thought about it. There were stories of people from other places coming here, even recent ones. 'I guess there's some merit to them then.' He thought. Another sailor passed them by, oblivious to their conversation. Tegan waited until he was a good distance away before responding.

"It's not much of an issue with me." He shrugged. "Just mind you don't go telling everyone we meet. I don't think you really want that kind of attention, no?"

Cerys nodded in affirmation. "I had no intention of telling anybody in the first place," she glanced downward for a bit before looking back at him "however, if you're going to be escorting me, it's only fair you know that much." She looked away once more, towards the buildings and away from the ocean. Now that there was no reason for them to be out here she was growing rather... uncomfortable. She found herself desperate to return to the city, no matter what would happen there. "Shall we... return to town?"

Tegan readily agreed. This day was certainly turning out to be far different from the rest. "Sure. I was feeling a mite too sober as it is." Having a nice sit down somewhere nursing his wine sounded like a good idea at that moment. So he lead them back through the gate, making sure to tell the guard they'd be back later, and walked around until he found them one of the nicer streets with a few benches to sit down on. He sat down, resting his eyes for a bit. "I guess you can go do what you like. I'll be right here, not going anywhere."

Would you like to wait?

--You can wait at any time you are not in combat or about to be. Wait time is counted out in hours. It can be likened to waiting in several RPGs you have likely played, except that sometimes you will be prompted to wait at opportune times such as this.--

Wait for: 4 Hours

With a rather large amount of time left until their mission and not much to do Cerys walked through the city, making sure to leave small symbols behind so as to keep from getting lost. They wouldn't be making any money if she got lost and didn't perform the job they had taken. And so she wandered, losing track of time until she felt enough time had passed–she still wanted to check out the warehouse's inside before they took on the job. She trudged back to Tegan with little to say and merely waited for him to stand before they walked back to the port together.

Current time: 7:20

By the time Cerys returned to him, Tegan was blissfully buzzed once more. He lucked out when a fellow vagabond gifted him with a rather large container of rum. It was empty by now and discarded to the side of the bench. He grinned at her in greeting and, as she seemed to have no use for talking at the moment, lead the way back to Dock 14 where Grelis was waiting for them so that he could lock up and leave for the night.

"Now remember, I'll be back in about eight hours." He locked all the warehouse door's locks and left with a short goodbye.

Tegan sat down and leaned up against the wall of the building, watching the sun go down over the various masts and sails of the ships in port. "I'd get comfortable if I were you."

She shook her head. "I don't think we can afford to." she said plainly, neutral expression, as always, remaining tight to her face. It was a fact of her. When it came to things like this, she didn't feel it possible to sit back and relax. Even something that was of minor importance to her couldn't be handled lightly; it meant she didn't care, and while that may or may not have been the truth in any situation, she would not allow a slip up. "Keep an eye out over here, I'll get the other side." And just like that, before he could argue with her, away she went.

Tegan watched her go and shook his head. He only meant that she should find somewhere to settle in for the watch, but on the other side would do just fine. He was fine with an unspoken order to watch this side anyway, but he hoped that she was able to keep herself awake for long periods of time. He'd make rounds every half hour he decided, mostly just to see if she was indeed awake.

The other side of the warehouse was just as nondescript as the front. Old but wooden sides and a few fishing nets piled neatly against the wall, and a couple lanterns hung on either end, currently unlit. As Zifaric had said, there was no way to climb up to the roof over here either, not even a window. Back here, one could see the next dock over where a larger fishing boat was anchored, a couple people patrolled its deck.

She stood very still for a little while, looking back and forth between her location and where Tegan was guarding. From what she could see, there wasn't any way to easily get into the warehouse unnoticed. She supposed now would be as good a time as any to check the inner workings of the place out; she turned in Tegan's direction. "I'm going to take a look inside," she tapped the rune on her arm, "shouldn't take too long." Without awaiting his response, Cerys began to draw a long oval shape on the wall of the warehouse. The second it was finished, she pressed her hand to it and then drew a separate copy of the the drawing in the air. The replica fazed through the wall and disappeared from sight for all of thirty seconds before the image of the inside of the warehouse appeared in the first. "Be right back." Cerys addressed her ally before stepping through the newly made portal.

Tegan blinked. Tegan stared. Then Tegan stood, examining the two portals made. Slowly, he poked his head inside to look. "I do believe that this is called breaking and entering. Aren't we supposed to be guarding this, not stealing from it ourselves?" He withdrew from it to make sure no one was looking, and decided right there he was just going to stand guard. Hopefully the city's wards wouldn't detect something like this . . .

The inside of the warehouse was piled high with crates of varying sizes and markings, though most of them seemed to be containers of rum barrels. The shadows make it hard to see once inside, but there appeared to be an open path to an office in the back. Waning sunlight filtered through Cerys' portal, but mostly through the large hole in the roof where the pulley crane cast an interesting shadow.

"I said I'm checking the place out," Cerys retorted without looking at Tegan "it's not stealing unless I take something myself." She briefly scanned the room, passing over all of the merchandise and falling on the large pulley crane. "That's interesting..." she mused quietly, moving closer for a better view. Her gaze briefly turned to the office in the back Tegan, could you come in here a minute?" She moved over towards the office area, looking around the desk and under it before directing her vision towards the papers. Maybe there was something important here?

Tegan barked out an unamused laugh. "I'd much rather not." He said, trying not to be too loud. "There's no way of knowing if the wards detected these portals here, and if they did the guard are already on their way." His warning said, Tegan stoutly refused to enter the warehouse and stood with his back to the portals. "I'm a drunk, not a criminal." He grumbled.

The papers laying on the desk looked innocent, if rather official. Upon closer examination, they would appear to be Grelis' ledger, where he kept track of all his shipments.

Current time: 7:30

Cerys closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. Alright. "Never mind then." she called back to him as she moved back to the large crane. The shadow it was making was definitely interesting... but was it abnormal? Having no experience with the place she couldn't tell–perhaps, though, the shadow wasn't the most important thing to focus on? She looked at the open ceiling and frowned; Zifaric had said there was no way onto the roof? Just because there wasn't a way to get up to the roof by one's own means didn't mean that someone with knowledge of the crane couldn't use it to break in. "I wonder..." Cerys mused, moving over to her portal and stepping out. It disappeared instantly. "Tegan, the pulley system is outside right?"

Tegan had taken to standing with his arms crossed, looking a little miffed. Getting thrown into jail for a night was not high on his priorities. He'd been there a few times (more than a few), and he had no inclination to go back. He looked back at Cerys, seeing her portals close. "Yes, right over there." He pointed to his left, further out on the dock.

The pulley crane was one that had recently been put into use, being able to turn by a crank near the bottom. At the moment, its hook was hauled up high for it was not in use.

Cerys glanced over at the crane controls and nodded, satisfied with it ultimately. It would definitely be nigh impossible for someone to turn it without alerting them. Finally able to relax, the young mage settled near Tegan, seemingly relaxed despite his obvious issue with her inquiry. "We won't be going to jail, I assure you." she said quietly in an attempt to ease his nerves. "I may be new to my craft, but I'm definitely skilled enough to make something simple like that undetectable. Even if I did lose most my power in coming here." She sat herself down and smiled, knowing that even her meager skill was a blessing. She could have been left without a single means of defense, and she knew that would be the death of her. She could wield no other weapon after all.

He looked over at her as she spoke. She seemed a little more at ease with him now that she'd told him the truth about her origin, even if he was a little antsy and irritated at the moment. Tegan dropped his arms and sat down next to her. "You lost your power?" He asked, hoping he wasn't prying too much. He was curious though. The drunk could even relate, if only a little.

Cerys nodded, her smile fading back into her usual stoic. It was different, though. There was a slight tinge of bitterness that, although unseen, clearly shone in the air around her. Losing one's abilities was tough, especially when one landed in a situation where they were needed most of all. "Before coming here I had enough power to create a bridge between our worlds apparently." she answered, voice drifting to near nothingness as she spoke. She had obviously been very powerful, and now... sure she could handle a thief, but she was nowhere near the same threat she had been. "It's going to take awhile to get it all back." she whispered, eyes distant and solemn.

Tegan didn't hesitate to put an arm around the girl's shoulder. He may have been a little intimidated by such a revelation, but it didn't really bother him now. He'd seen the evidence and of course there was nothing to fear. "I'm sorry." He said, knowing it was very little to offer. After a moment's thought, he undid the wine bottle from his belt and offered her a drink. She sounded like she could use a little.

Cerys' eyes fell to the bottle he offered her, very suddenly in the moment and at a loss for any emotion. Her hand quivered for a moment before she took the bottle from him and took a nice long swig of the wine. Her eyes closed again as she took the bottle away from her mouth and set it back in Tegan's hand; she let out a shaky breath and took in a deep one. Her eyes opened again and she let it out. "Shake it out." she demanded mentally, allowing for the negativity to slide off of her for a bit. She took another breath. "Can we... change the subject?"

Tegan played with the wine bottle a bit as he watched Cerys, and smiled good-naturedly. "Of course." Only what to talk about? He didn't think Cerys really wanted to talk about herself anymore, and he was quite busy just being a drunk to talk about himself so . . . Nothing really came to mind. He leaned his head back against the warehouse wall. "Well is there something you want to talk about?"

Cerys shifted her weight to lay against the building. "You have any stories?" she asked after a moment, wrapping her torso up with her arms to spread the meager amount of cloth she had on her. "Not necessarily yours if you don't want..." she added, "maybe... legends? I liked to read myths back home..."