Old World Remnants

[Nayt]

Normally, Etsu would have ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. Unfortunately, she was a bit preoccupied and still stricken with anxiety from that crowd. Likewise, there wasn't actually much expensive on the menu to begin with. Eld was a little sneak, wasn't he?

She just got a sandwich like Eld did, except she packed on far less veggies than he. She packed on far less food in general, in fact. Etsu was a small person. She did not need to eat that much. She was steadily approaching the average age in which girls stop growing, too, so it wasn't like "she's a growing girl" applied anymore, either. She wasn't even that hungry to begin with, this was just an excursion that got them both out of the house. Nonetheless, she had to let go of Eld's hand eventually, and that time came when they were given a tray to share with both of their orders on it, and the task of carrying it was passive aggressively given to Eld.

The Umbra woman out front was still calmly reading by the time Eld and Etsu returned to her. She looked up at Eld once when he addressed her. Even if he had seen an Umbra before, this might still unnerve him. When most people-- people like Eld, Etsu, and their ilk --saw an Umbra for the first time, it wasn't the charcoal color of their skin that was the most unnerving. Rather, most folk recalling their first experience with an Umbra stated that it was their eyes. They were a bright, dully glowing red. It looked outright unnatural, but the stories were true: an Umbra in the dark could sometimes only be noticed by the glowing red color of its eyes.

For most, it was hard to digest if your life was as normal as Eldridge Tsukimono's.

"I suppose so," the Umbra woman said, "But I am waiting for someone. When he arrives, he might politely ask you to leave."

The way she said it, it was as if she didn't mind the company temporarily. She was just giving them a warning was all. They could sit with her, but they were going to have to leave eventually.

[Zach Kaiser]

While the obsidian color of her skin didn't much phase Eld (though admittedly the oddly shaped and placed horns were a bit distracting), he was startled when she met his eyes, briefly recalling when Akizetsumei had fallen off her horse. It was the same eyes as he saw then, when he'd peeked into the forest.

Well, the same kind of eyes. It had never occurred to him that an Umbra might have been what he'd seen; but why one would be hanging out on the outskirts of the Vaerbond ranch he didn't know, so he couldn't be certain his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"That's fine. I just thought it might help with...you know..." He jerked his head toward the crowd; his hope was that if he started talking to her the aura of mystery might lighten enough that they moved on.

It was a bit hard to blame them; in normal circumstances, Eld would have been as fascinated with her as anyone, but he was so put off by the crowd (due largely to his general bad mood) that he was fiercely determined not to act like an awestruck bumpkin.

As he sat down, he extended his hand to her. "I'm Eldridge Tsukimono, by the way. And this is my cousin Etsu."

[Nayt]

She folded her newspaper and set it off to the side of the table. Eld sat down across from her and Etsu joined them, sitting adjacent from the both of them. When Eld introduced himself and Etsu, the Umbra woman nodded her head in acknowledgment and reached her out to take his.

The claws on the back of the Umbra's hands looked outright deadly. They were retracted in a "flipped back" sort of way, as if they couldn't be withdrawn in like a blade, but pulled back and pushed forward depending on necessity. Yet still, for how deadly they looked (Etsu had concluded that this woman could have probably killed a man thrice her size with only a single weak swipe of them, for instance), she had a dainty, unexpectedly "lady-like" grip-- not to mention, her skin practically felt soft as velvet.

"My name is Kageko . . ." the Umbra paused at length to recall something, ". . . Nomokutsi."

Kageko Nomokutsi: a completely Cizokian name, even though she did not appear to be ethnically Cizokian. Not even in the least bit. She shook Eld's hand, then she shook Etsu's, and then she went silent again. It was on Eld to make conversation-- at least for now.

[Zach Kaiser]

It certainly was odd that she had a Cizokian name; as far as Eld knew, it was rather uncommon for Umbra to live in Cizok given the xenophobia of the nation. Not that seeing them in Algeroth was all that common either, but they were around.

"I'm impressed you aren't bothered by the crowd," he commented. He figured along with racism the spectacle her presence was causing was one of the reasons Umbra tended avoid coming into towns if they could help it.

"Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?" Since she wasn't bothered at all by any of this, he suspected she wasn't from a normal Umbra tribe. Not that he was terribly sure what a normal one was like, other than that they tended to keep to themselves.

[Nayt]

On the subject of the crowd, Kageko looked to her left, to the crowd that watched her, then looked back to Eldridge with a shrug of her shoulders. She cared so little for their gawking that she simply didn't notice it.

"Many places," she said, "I was born in a village north of Feiyan."

Feiyan, Algeroth-- a ghost town. No one lived there. Supposedly, it used to be populated, but all that was gone, now. No one even dared to step foot into it. People that did, rebellious teenagers, runaways, and all the sorts that were attracted to the empty walls of that city-- those people never came back unharmed.

"But I was raised . . . not far from here."

Kageko was very blunt and open, though not too open. She wasn't laying her whole life story out for Eld to hear, but she had a soothing, almost musical sort of voice. She was making no attempt to seem unapproachable, and would likely come across as quite the opposite. This young woman was downright pleasant.

[Zach Kaiser]

Another traveler; Eld couldn't help but be a bit jealous. He rarely left Hillcrest, and when he did he tended not to go far. Other than a few trips to see relatives he hardly ever ventured outside of the area of Hillcrest and Galaens.

"Must be nice, to see a lot of new places. I've been here all my life."

She was surprisingly friendly; not that he expected her to be hostile, but she could have just as easily seen him eating with her as an intrusion as much as he'd hoped it would be a relief from the staring.

One thing he was curious about was who she was waiting for, since chances were if the meeting was here it was someone in the village and possibly someone he knew. But he didn't ask; that would have been prying a bit, he felt, and he'd probably get to see who it was anyway.

"So, what brings you to Hillcrest?" he asked instead. There wasn't much here, and he couldn't think of any real reason unless she was here simply to meet with whomever she was waiting for.

[Nayt]

"A life of simplicity may seem dull," Kageko admitted on the topic of travel, "But a wayward life of complications is far less desirable than you'd imagine."

And that was it for that topic. She'd nothing further to say after that-- well, after that bit of advice. She sounded as if she were speaking from experience, too . . .

Etsu found it exceedingly difficult to not stare. This young woman, Kageko, was out of this world. But the more Etsu stared the most conscious of it she became, and she wound up occupying herself with eating. It was the only way she was going to act remotely normal right now.

"I'm here to meet someone," Kageko replied.

The crowd seemed to be tapering off a little by now. Maybe Eld sitting down to talk with Kageko helped? Or maybe the splendor only lasted so long? Everyone (well, most everyone) had jobs and lives to go back to, though. They could only stand and gawk for so long.

"He said he'd be returning today, but . . ." Kageko looked up to the sun for a split second, just enough to discern its location in the sky (and thus the time), and looked back down at the table. ". . . I am beginning to have my doubts."

[Zach Kaiser]

The advice was, if not exactly needed, accepted. Eld didn't have any plans to wander the world, as much as he might daydream about it. His life was pretty well set out before him already: he'd go to school in Greoul, return and work at the clinic and eventually take it over when his parents retired. It's what his family had done for generations.

And he was okay with that life, but he sometimes wondered if at some point he couldn't take a year off or something and just...explore. See enough of the world that he'd be truly content to return to stay in Hillcrest.

"If you don't mind my asking, who are you waiting for? It's not a large town, so I might know them," he added. He hadn't originally intended to pry, but perhaps if she was waiting for someone he knew he'd have an idea where to find them.

[Nayt]

Now Etsu was starting to become curious. An Umbra comes in to town specifically to meet someone who was just returning? Returning home? More than likely. Why would an Umbra be here to meet someone from Hillcrest, though? From Etsu's experiences, this was mostly a bumpkin town. It was decent sized, sure, but most of the people here were set in their ways, and would probably never trust an Umbra enough to meet with one. Especially one with sizable claws like Kageko. Etsu again found herself staring at the young woman's hands.

"I do not know how well he is known here," Kageko preempted, "We have never met here before, and he never discussed his standing in this town . . ."

Kageko paused to set her elbow upon the table and rest her chin in her hand. She was beginning to show signs of dissent. It wasn't quite impatience, but it was certainly disappointment. She might have been able to deal with all these stares, but that didn't mean she wanted to remain the focus of all these people needlessly.

"But his name is Noah Herst. Do you know him?"

Well . . . there went all of Etsu's theories. She shook her head. She didn't know any Noah Herst. She'd never heard the name in her life, in fact.

[Zach Kaiser]

Try as he might Eld could not stop his dismay from showing at hearing that name. It was the kind of reaction that could only come from knowing the person in question and wishing he didn't.

"Yes," he admitted with a sigh. Noah? She's here to see him of all people? He couldn't even begin to fathom what she would want with Noah. Maybe he owed her money or something; it would explain why he wasn't showing up.

And then he remembered something. "Wait...Noah's away at school. Or at least he's supposed to be; I haven't heard of him coming back yet, anyway." And honestly he be perfectly content if he never did. There weren't too many people that Eld had a sincere wish never to see again, but Noah was definitely one of them.

"If you want, I can show you where his family lives. They'd probably know if he came back, at least," he offered.

[Nayt]

"At school . . .?" Kageko asked with the utmost curiosity.

Etsu found herself staring not at the Umbra now, but at Eld's face. The way he reacted did more than just suggest that Eld knew Noah Herst, it suggested that he had a history with this person. A poor history. She would have to ask about this later.

"I was never aware he attended a university," Kageko thought aloud.

But it didn't matter too much, it seemed. She shrugged her shoulders and looked back into the thinning crowd, hoping to see Noah fighting his way through it sometime soon.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Kageko said to Eld's proposition, "Meeting his father would be . . . awkward, all things considered. Especially if Noah isn't there."

Chances were, Noah didn't have great things to say about that man, and his mother had passed away a couple of years back. Patiently waiting was probably for the best.

[Zach Kaiser]

He really wasn't sure what Kageko intended to do then. It wasn't as though Noah was likely to be back any time soon, so unless she found out where he was going to school the chances of her getting her meeting were slim. He wondered if Noah was supposed to show up here of if she had just assumed he'd be here.

The comment about meeting his father being awkward, however, gave Eld a thought that was so horrifying he momentarily forgot his manners. "You and Noah aren't a couple, are you?" he blurted out. The idea that someone like Noah Herst could somehow be in a relationship with a cool, exotic beauty like Kageko was very disheartening.

[Nayt]

Kageko looked at Eld with a furrowed brow and a slight frown, and Etsu glanced between Eld and Kageko. She was trying to discern exactly what that look meant. She was displeased or disappointed by something, that much was obvious-- but what? That Eld was prying? That he was correct? That he was incorrect? That he was making baseless assumptions? Kageko didn't seem to saying anything to actually indicate any one of these possibilities. In fact, rather than speaking, she looked back into the crowd.

It wasn't long before there was traveling commotion amongst the ever thinning crowd. It started near the back and steady crept closer to the front.

"'Scuse me; pardon me," at first.

"Outta the way; c'mon, move it," by the middle.

"Seriously, nothing to see here; you kids should go home; don't you people have better things to do with your time?" by the end of it.

A figure thrust himself out of the crowd, pushing past two large men gawking at the Umbra woman. He was undoubtedly someone Eld would recognize. He was a tall young man with an average body build; he had dirty blond hair and slight five o'clock shadow connected to a slight mustache and goatee. He wore a button down shirt and slacks, a style choice he was kind of known for around this town. Just like Toushikyo wore thick clothes even in the dead heat of summer, this young man-- Noah Herst --was known for dressing like he was vastly richer than he actually was. He steadied himself once he was out of the crowd, only to find Kageko not too far from him. He gave her an apologetic smile, which she returned with a half-smile of her own.

[Zach Kaiser]

Clearly Kageko didn't appreciate the question, either because he was prying or (he hoped) because he was way off the mark. But he couldn't take it back now. Unfortunately, he would have rather apologized to her and dealt with some awkwardness than with what was approaching them now.

"Speak of the devil and he appears," Eld muttered. Noah was in fact in town, something that was news to him. He wondered if he had a holiday or he was simply cutting classes.

"Well, we'll let you have your meeting. No need for us to intrude." Eld hurriedly got up from his seat, intending to drag Etsu out into the crowd. The last thing he wanted to deal with right now was Noah.

[Nayt]

Unfortunately for Eld, he wasn't in time. The second Noah spotted Eld at the table, he stood up straight again and wore a new, more confident smile.

"Whoa, hey! If it isn't Eldridge Tsukimono!" Noah exclaimed.

He was all grins now that he was out of the crowd, and with minimal regard for Eld's personal space, marched on over, catching him just as he got up to leave Kageko to her meeting with Noah, and threw his arm around Eld's shoulders. It was going to be overbearing and it was going to half-drag Eld off of his feet. It was always like that.

"Don't tell me you're here to charm this lovely young lady, too?"

Etsu hadn't stood up yet. In fact, she had no plans on it in the near future. She kind of wanted to see how this was going to play out, after all. She and Kageko watched silently.