The voice of the crowds had slowly begun to rise, chattering and gossiping amongst each other. Amused at the reaction of the locals, the dark figure replaced his hood, concealing his features again; as he slowly turned, to seemingly leave the assembled crowds, with their new-found topic-of-gossip for the day.
A voice came from within the, now scattering and departing, crowds; "Why do you spread word of your faith with violence?". Xarkuss turned his head to see the young, slender girl who had made her way through the crowds towards him. Pausing for a few moments to examine the girl; from under his hood he slowly asked back, with the slight hiss in his voice "Who are you...".
Slightly taken aback, "I..."
"And what is it to you, how I deal with one who chose to attack me..."
Slightly hesitant, the girl replies "I am one of whom you seek..."
"You are one of His faithful, then?"
"I am"
After another moment's pause, the figure nodded slightly; "I sympathize with the man, who mistook me for one of whom brought harm to his sister, upon his claim... that is why I spared his life, and merely rendered him unconscious...even though, it did not seem that he would extend me the same courtesy".
The girl nodded her understanding. "It is cruel how others would judge you because of your beliefs"
"It is crueler, still, how they would judge you , upon your appearance..."
The girl attempted as much as possible to look for a distinctive feature, upon the dark figure, and clearly couldn't find it; however the puzzlement on her face was clear. "It is not my figure I speak of"
The girl was clearly curious, but also quite hesitant, and obviously trying not to sound rude. "Can you... uhh..."
With a slightly more threatening voice, the man replied "I don't know you. And how am I supposed to know whether you really are one of His faithful...?".
"I'm still here, aren't I?"
"I promise I'm not like others..."
"If you are who you claim you are, then I know you are not like others"
The man hesitated, then decided there was no harm in it; he raised his hands and slowly removed the hood, revealing his scarred face, and snake-like eyes. Surprisingly, the girl approached the man even more, and began to examine him more closely. Xarkuss discretely showed his unease, and distrust, moving his hands closer to where his daggers lay, from within the robes that concealed them.
"Were you born this way?"
"I was... chosen"
Hesitantly again she continued "Were you one of those carrying Hemelia"
"No, I'm afraid I was not blessed as such"
After stepping back she continued, "Why do you seek the followers of the Apprentice?"
"I think I have answered enough questions today; especially to one of which I do not even know a name..."
She nodded, and replied that she also did not know of his.
"You may call me Xarkuss, then", and to this she introduced herself as 'Emalia Haverland' and that she was on a journey to discover herself, and her purpose in life. He commented on how they seemed to have a shared interest, but that he also sought guidance, as he was 'instructed'. She had mentioned someone called Nephesh, but before the conversation could go any further, the girl abruptly stopped upon noticing the approaching figure of a large man.
Previously, Xarkuss had ignored the fact that she would occasionally look around in apprehension; but replacing the hood, concealing his form yet again, before the man's approach, Emalia also seemingly took notice and quickly cleared her throat, trailing away from the conversation, and instead proceeded to introduce the large man as Colin, her 'friend' and 'sort-of-bodyguard'. At which point he introduced himself instead as her 'travel companion'. It was apparent that the man's arrival caused her unease, concerning the subject of her faith.
"Is he one of us?"
"No"
That was all he needed to know. From that point on in the conversation, the man called Colin was trying to get Emalia to leave, or 'go eat' as he put it. Emalia invited Xarkuss to join them. He considered his options, then agreed to join them, hoping to get another chance to speak privately with the girl; as well as meeting this 'Nephesh'. It quickly became clear, however, that he would not be present. It was clear, at that point, that it would have to wait for another time. Xarkuss excused himself, and extended his hand, for Emalia to take, then shook that of the man called Colin, who either hoped to be intimidating, or just got a feeling of self-accomplishment from squeezing people's hands.
Xarkuss turned and walked-away, as Emalia discretely hid the piece of parchment, apparently left in her hand just moments earlier. It read:
Meet me at the entrance to the temple at midnight. We may then speak more freely, and perhaps discover why 'He' saw fit to bring this meeting to pass, today.
