Welcoming Arrivals and Explaining the Three Gifts.

[Baleron87]

A look of deep anger and rage shook Baleron's features, and if the island's natural effects hadn't cooled his temper, he would have slipped his sword deftly from his scabbard and run the haughty noble through his heart. Instead, he found himself in a relaxed mood all of a sudden, and against his own will he stood there quietly and let the noble speak his mind. All of it still angered him, of course, but he didn't want to cause an unnecessary scene, nor give the noble any proof that his claims were correct when he believed them not to be. How much would a noble know about taking the lives of others, anyways? One of the perks of being a high-class citizen was being able to let others do the dirty work for them, so he imagined that even if this noble had ever taken someone's life with his own hands, he had truly done it for a selfish reason. That reasoning alone made him return the noble's pitiful gaze with his own, silently hoping the good spirits would find it in their heart to save the man from existing as such a biased creature.

Instead of listening to the noble's ranting and raving, he took it upon himself to completely space out, which was something he would have never done in front of a noble before. The air of the island gave him more than enough reason to relax, and considering Baleron wasn't in the mood to stand there taking the punishing words that the noble was spewing out from his poison lips, he let the feeling of the island overwhelm his senses completely, if only for just a few moments. Only vaguely did he realize that Fifteen had said his last words and left. Baleron hadn't even been paying enough attention to hear where the noble had disappeared to, but as far as he was concerned, it didn't really matter to him one way or another.

With the final loose end tied up, he turned around and looked over the dense crowd as they continued to pile toward Eroina, unable to see or sense Caela within the vast crowd. Sighing audibly, he let his gaze wander to a side hallway, wondering where the king had planned on letting his guests sleep. With the thought of a soft and warm bed to lay in and relax, he shifted his backpack more comfortably onto his back, straightened up the scabbard of his sword across his belt, and made way through the ever-shifting crowd, hoping it wouldn't take him too long to find a bed to rest in and a room to begin planning his search in.

[Nayt]

Whilst she relaxed in the comfort of the throne of Persistencia, Eroina continued to chew merrily upon the recently plucked piece of eye. It was just as tough as the last bite, which had her thinking: if she intended to cook this successfully, she might have to boil it first. It was spongy, so she'd have to make sure to boil it in water; flavor absorption was a high risk with these sorts of ingredients. It might have even required extensive boiling, all things considered. After all, this piece of anatomy was supposed to be tough while constantly subjected to moisture. Of course, that moisture wasn't one hundred degree water, but it was still something worth taking into account!

Eroina swallowed the bite sized piece once it was chewed down enough, and released a contented sigh. Every time she thought about it, she wound up considering her options for cooking, which inevitably occupied her attention so much that, until he spoke her name, she had not even noticed the cloaked man standing close by the throne's side. Surprised, she jumped a bit, but relaxed as soon as she looked up, smiling nervously. He'd certainly given her a fright! But it was all in fun, truly. Her nervous smile quickly became genuine.

Despite her young appearance and patchwork body, Eroina could have been considered appealing to the eye--at least to those who could ignore the stitches, the distortions of skin color, and her obvious appearance as a fourteen year old girl. She wasn't at all flat chested, her skin was soft and decidedly warm--regardless of her lack of beating heart, and she had her feminine curves, but Eroina wasn't nearly as developed as a grown woman, and there was a good chance that she never would be, either. But . . . some had that preference, as strange as it was to the outside world. In Persistencia, though, it was less looked down upon--if at all. Some had qualms, other did not. No law or widely accepted social morality declared illegality, though.

"H-hi~" the girl cheerily greeted the cloaked man to her side, ignorant to his examination of her body.

Even if she could see his eyes, it was unlikely that she'd have recognized the stare. She was blissfully unaware to these sorts of things, but were she not, she'd have either been flattered or put off, intentions pending.

[Titan]

"Hello." I dropped myself down to a knee at the throne's side, raising up my arms to settled their 'bows upon the arm rest then available to them. This allowed the somewhat large folds of my cloak's sleeve to fall and bunch about the crook of my arms. It was then revealed to watching eyes I wore a pair of black gloves of a sophisticated manner, contrasting with the white sleeves of my jacket. This was the first I myself had seen what I was clothed in beneath my cloak, knowing I had on my white suit and back dress shoes.

Now at a more level field of vision with Eroina I slipped together my fingers, making a rest for my chin. This cast back my hood enough that from my nose to chin were finally touched by the light of this place. My color of choice for my clothing was to better bring out the soft golden tone of my skin, an inheritance from my father who I sadly knew very, very little about. Before another word could pass from either of us, I shared with her a quaint lip-parting grin.

My teeth were white, dazzling so; it seeming they could rival even the brilliance of my cloak's fur and suit's hue. Thin were they as well, perfectly spaced into a smile that I, oh-so narcissitically, thought to be rather exquisite.

A tiny dash of light managed to reflect off my eyes better revealing their position in the cover of my hood. Still I dared not let her sight and mine lock. Before the silence could even hope to start growing awkward or unbearable I spoke again, quietly; as if such words had been meant only for her.

"A re-birthday party is it? It would seem that something had gone amiss, what with your unique appearance. I wonder why it was you had need of such... maintenance?" Rather than doing as others had done, surrendering their gifts to her and moving away, I sought to learn a bit about this special girl on this special day. I found the time quite opportune for such a venture as the gathered were mulling about in their own thoughts and conversation. Others had moved off to explore other portions of the castle; the two men whom spoke tersely headed to where I myself had first been going.

An impercetible shiver coursed my spine as I again recollected the sensations emanating from behind that door leading to vice. When the spell had passed, all that remained was a vague tingling awareness that Arethusa still resided in this room; yet to make a choice on if she would explore on her own or join her husband in his idea of merry-making. Then again she could stay here amidst those still flocking about as it was her life afterall. Arc as well was still arm-wrapped in the two giggling, babbling girls who caught him, apparently having a nervous breakdown as a result of whatever the trio spoke of.

My focus broke for but the instant it took for the chill to come and the thoughts to pass, before again my attention was near wholly upon dear Eroina. I eagerly awaited whatever response she might give to my most prodding question.

[Mandaz]

((I’m sorry this is so late, I don’t have any excuses anymore. So you can all hate me, i know some of you already do. I’ve been following, and it’s to my understanding that these are the only two character’s who I am interacting with at the time in this particular thread. If you’re new and want some action, break off into a part of the castle and I’ll make sure you’re catered to! But also I completely encourage RPing amongst yourselves to lessen the load on me a bit. Heh. I'd just like to actually get some threads started in the castle.))

The festivities were well underway. Guests seemed to be scattering here and there, Eroina was receiving fantastic gifts already. When one lived a life in such a colorful land, it was hard to imagine that any normal sort of gift could inspire or please the temporary princess. She, however, seemed as bubbly as the king as they enjoyed the gala.


Kali-
“She doesn’t have a heart to push blood through her. So her parts don’t really stay fresh for long naturally. It’s the king’s magic that keeps her lively, still, her threads come loose sometimes, little parts will fall off here and there, but there’s always someone to sew them back on for her. From what I understand she’s quite an able seamstress herself with all the practice she gets.”

Bale worked his magic with the ropes as he spoke, weaving the threads between his strong fingers as maliciously as a surgeon. A loop, some knots, and a few moments later he had already had an impressive lanyard. His eyes kept focused on his work, and his lips moved with each knot he made- counting. When he was satisfied with what he had he looked up to Kali, showing her the intricacies of his knot work. The ropes twisted around each other in a little swirl design, similar to what the young man had made for the sea nymph.

“There, see? This is half! If I put the shell here it will dangle down to about her collarbone, Eroina is a smaller miss. Here.”

Bale held out two of his threads on his finger, keeping them steady and stiff, holding them out to Kali.

“Place the shell here, we’ll make it together, I’ll teach you how to knot this design. It’s not hard.”

Arc-

“Sure!” “Sure he does!” “He loves stuff like that!” “Alice would sing to him more if her voice wasn’t so masculine.” “Eh?! Well Esra has never sung to him because every time she opens he mouth it sounds like a goat call.” “Take that back!” “Only if you take back what you said first!”

The girls bickered back and forth a bit; each one grabbed onto Arc’s arm and used him as a rope in a tug-of-war style battle to go along with their insults. Being in the middle of two girls had it’s advantages and disadvantages it seemed, but at least he wouldn’t be so nervous about meeting Edric anymore.

[Nayt]

The girl cocked her head to the side, confounded. Had something gone awry with her existence that found her in need of a re-birth? It had been so heavily implied that she need not suggestion to know that she must have had a heart before. Memories of such a time were limited, if they even existed at all. It was simply not important to her. Eroina was just happy to be alive.

But it was still a question, and to deny him an honest answer would have been rude! Eroina was anything but rude--or, at the very least, she made an honest effort for such. In her short re-life, she hadn't experienced anyone being overtly rude to her, but she had witnessed it between others--such as what happened between Arethusa, Fifteen, and Baleron. Though she didn't get involved in those kinds of spats, it still made her feel bad. Because of that, Eroina didn't think she could ever be rude to someone, and if she did, she'd have a lifetime of hugs and apologies waiting for that person!

For a moment, the only sound coming from the girl was a small hum. She had her left index finger placed upon her lower lip, with her head still cocked to the side, and her eyes up, transfixed upon the ceiling as if all of her answers lie within those decorated arches, arcs, and linings.

"I think so . . ." she hummed.

There had to be something that she could remember! The people in dark clothes had to have mentioned something before--something about her life before waking up as she was. Sadly, Eroina was drawing a blank. After a moment of thought, Eroina held up her left hand, mainly just to show her pinky finger. It was a much lighter color than the rest of her hand--practically skin tone, without even the smallest traces of green. The simplest way to describe it was "new." A brand new finger. There was no end to her oddities.

The girl spoke, but not without a tone of disappointment--in herself, particular. "Something went wrong with my pinky yesterday and they had to give me a new one. I don't know why, though. I'm really sorry."

She frowned a bit. After all that thinking, she hadn't a semblance of an answer for the man. Eroina simply had no memory of her life before rebirth, or if she even had just one altogether. Although every part of her body fit together like a natural body should have, the notion that she had parts of herself replaced suggested that everything on her wasn't completely original.

[Titan]

"Hmn." The sound was a mix between an aknowledgement of the answer she gave and a dimunitive slip of humor on my part. I sat up somewhat so I could better perceive the interest in front of me. Again my face was completely hidden. Though she was a marvel to behold for she did appear quite living, I was rather dismayed with the shoddy workmanship that went into her ressurection.

Vaguely I recalled a shocked expression from a woman, the one whom left a path of puddles I'd unknowingly cleaned up; "The poor girl...loses her fingers?" Surely even if the poor child's stitching came loose, her muscles, tendons and ligaments should be able to keep her from losing pieces of herself. "You poor girl. You're just falling apart, aren't you? I should have a word with your creators about the disadvantages of half-assing something."

Absentmindedly I slipped her gift-to-be, which I had swapped to my left hand when I first brought both of them together, into my jacket pocket. I could always give it to her later; for now I was more interested in continuing my learning expedition. I could only hope she'd allow me a closer view of her mix-and-match hand. In a desire to better inspect, I stretched out my right hand; gloved though they were, I could still more easily survey her condition. "Might I have a better look?"

[Nayt]

At his suggestion that her makers did a botched job, Eroina giggled and soon after shook her head at the notion. "No, no, they do a great job! See?"

Eroina, as per the man's request, let him see her hand for a closer inspection. She even extended her hand out to him, so he wouldn't have to awkwardly lean in or anything of the sort. All the stitches were around her main joints--in regards to her hand, this slated them to be around each knuckle, right where the individual fingers connected to the hand. The craftsmanship was impeccable, though. Just like the stitches on her wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck--every main join on her body--these were done in a way that they did not look like stitches, even when investigated closely. Even when touched, the operations were done so that her skin could retain a smooth, soft texture without any bumps or scarring from the individual movements and replacements. The stitches wound up having the appearance of black tattoos more than anything, and felt just the same.

Of course, Eroina's personal skills with this were vastly inferior to those that took care of her. She could put anything back on herself so long as she had one hand available, but the sewing wound up botched and faulty. Rather than seeming like a natural and original limb, it'd have the appearance of something that was just added onto her on a whim. Eroina had a couple of fingers like that.

She moved her pinky just to show that it was fully functional. To her, that was all that mattered. So long as she could move and act as freely as any normal person, she was perfectly happy. Aesthetics were a secondary concern at best.

"It didn't fall off or anything--it just didn't work. I couldn't move it or anything, and it just hung there and turned black and stuff. Th-they got super worried and said it would make me sick, so they took it off," Eroina spoke about her previously defective pinky finger, prompting her to cheerily exclaim, "But this one works great!"

[Titan]

Though unseen due to my hood casting shade across my features, a smile struck my lips for a moment as she first began speaking and when she had finished. Before I'd taken the offered hand my left had slipped back up, the act that pulled the glove off of my right possessing of almost unnaturally fluid grace. It was less as though my arm were flesh and blood but merely whispers of the wind, carrying away the article of cloth.

So it was that I took her bare hand with my own, glove set on my upraised knee so I could coil the digits of that grasping hand about her wrist. The softness of my skin felt superior even to that of the silk glove, its warmth inviting. Letting glide my fingertips along her flesh, lazily drawing a staggered line from her wrist across her palm, she could notice something strange about me. The ends of my fingers were smooth as if polished. Whatever prints had been on them before no longer existed. All the digits on my right hand were this way; a result of my almost maniac desire to learn the use of the elven bow.

Even more odd would be the soft tingling Eroina could, for a brief moment, feel dancing across her. Like the sensation that tickles the nerves in the back when one knows someone is behind them. Only this would sing along her entire body. In this I would learn far more about her than my roaming eyes and wandering hand could. With my left hand I turned her's palm down, lacing my naked fingers through her own, brushing my thumb carelessly along her new pinky; I dropped my now unneeded arm to the throne's rest again.

"I do admit the task was performed well." Withholding my 'but' on the matter, I instead leaned a little closer. I canted my head a bit to the right so the lights in the room could then fully reveal that side's dark brown eye. An almost mischievious smile danced within it, rather than falling upon my mouth. "Of course, I cannot comment on the full extent of their work without a more thorough investigation."

[Nayt]

The sensation was dulled for Eroina, actually. She almost exclusively lacked pain receptors; it took a great deal of pain and discomfort for her to actually feel the sensation of it, especially in areas around joints. On her hands, she only had pain receptors on her palms, but even then, they were minimal. This applied to the rest of her body, too: her belly, arms, chest, legs, face--everywhere. With minimal pain receptors came a dulled sense of feeling.

She had a functional nervous system, but all physical sensations of touch, for her, were significantly diminished. Pressure was discernible, but it was generally difficult to near impossible to tickle her, or likewise provide a pleasant sensation through touch--such as a massage of her back or a gentle caress. For anyone to provide her the experience of touch, they had to disregard any fears of frailty and treat her a bit rougher; a back massage, for example, would have to be the same for Eroina as it would be for a person three times her size. It was the same as dealing with someone who was hard of hearing--one simply had to talk louder.

Of course, that was excepting a few choice areas, such as her cheeks, tongue, and sinuses which, just because of a closeness to her brain, experienced the same sensations as any normal person. There were a select few areas around her body like that, but a person had to know her well for that sort of information!

Nonetheless, the feelings of pressure she experienced had her confused. Eroina couldn't experience a tingling sensation, a tickle, or even the pleasant caress he was providing her, but she knew what he was doing, and was thus confounded. Were there blood in her body, she'd have been blushing--

--an anxious feeling, it was. Not the same as excitement and joy over her surprise re-birthday or seeing all these new faces, but a nervous, inward feeling. Bashfulness, shyness--but no shame. In Persistencia, a land where the dead being brought back to life with body parts harvested from other corpses would actually be celebrated by all--not even condemned as immoral by skeptics, innuendo was regarded as normality. Similarly, relations with Eroina would not have been looked down upon by the populous, and regarding her with innuendo or intent would not have made her any less innocent if she wound up buying into it. That didn't mean she wasn't shy, though--and a bit dense. Half of her mind was reserved and hesitant to reply to this man's suggestion, while the other half had absolutely no clue what he was talking about. The result was a fair medium:

"Wh-what do you m-mean . . . a th-thorough inspection?" Eroina asked, a tone of shy nervousness in her voice, although she didn't sound put off--more or less, she had the sound of someone innocent being provided a sinful temptation, and not knowing exactly how to react.

[Titan]

"Well..." I looked away from her, staring more at the floor than anything, and breathed a soft chuckle. Rather quickly though I was facing her again, so quickly infact it might seem to some as if I'd been looking her way the entire time. Only the gentle sway of my hood gave any sign that movement had occured. Reaching down to retrieve the glove from my knee before I stood and moved in front of Eroina, I kept my arm stretched out so as not to be pulling her; still the support was there if she had need of it to get up.

Strange indeed it was this one of many differences between the two of us. Whereas her sense of touch was muddled and distant, my own was rather heightened and somewhat intense at times. Though my tolerance to pain had grown as I did, I still had take special care to keep my wits about me, else even a simple cut could be excrutiating. This was true not only of that sense but my others as well. In my drowzed state before I came into full awareness, I could 'feel' the emotions of those in the Hall of Escape, and I hungered to feel them directly.

That moment had passed some time ago, far from my mind now as I was focused on Eroina instead. I suppose my initial interest in her was her exotic appearance that set her apart from the other women present; just as mine made me a rare figure amongst the male populace. As far as I knew, no other that I'd seen in my limited venture across the world possessed of the Eldar blood that made up half my being. But I digress:

"If we could go somewhere a bit less crowded, I could elaborate. Is there a particular room where you stay?" I hoped she did and would lead me there, for even if we did naught but talk I would feel more comfortable. Not to mention we wouldn't have to worry of anyone interrupting our conversation; hopefully. I would need to gather my belongings I'd set aside before moving to interact with this girl-of-many-pieces, but that was a trivial matter until she decided what to do.

[Cork]

Cornelius:

Cornelius, discontent with being so far back in line, had instead decided to leave the line in favour of exploring the room. He spoke to a few of the other guests, only smiling when someone else would frown. Unfortunately, he got no better reactions than that, and it was nigh instantaneously reversed. He hadn't entirely left his escort: though he was ignoring her, he was now clinging to her arm. He'd stopped making fun of her at this point, as well. It seemed as though everything he said to her was taken entirely in the wrong manner, meaning in a positive light. He'd all but given up on insulting her, but rather he'd ended up having respect for her. He could make grown men cry, and yet this girl was entirely unreceptive.

He couldn't figure out why she was still sticking with him, but something that baffled him more still was how long the man with Eroina was taking. He'd been glancing over multiple times for a few minutes, and each time he was still there, still speaking. He nearly excused himself from his escort, but as an afterthought invited her along.

"Excuse me, sir and madam." He said with utmost courtesy.
"It should only take a moment, but I would like to give this girl my gift." In the back of his head, Cornelius was half hoping he could just speak the verses and leave the place - or maybe he'd give the girl his gift, speak with the Rift King a little, and leave. He was mildly disgusted to find himself smiling in a genuine manner and actually looking forward to this.

"Besides that, how could the 're-birthday' girl leave her own party? so many people have just to see her, isn't that right, young miss?" he turned to her with a gentle smile. He had no qualms showing this face to a young girl like Eroina.

[Nayt]

"A room where I stay--m-my room . . .?" Eroina repeated the question, surprised--again: not put off, but shy and quite nervous . . . and she couldn't even explain why.

Thorough. That's the word he used to describe it. He wanted to thoroughly examine her framework--and he wanted to do that in her room. If she had a heart, it would have been thumping hard against her ribs. In her mind, she pictured herself standing before him, bashfully covering her chest with her arms, with one leg over the other and her thighs pressed together, all an attempt to maintain decency. The image made her even more nervous. Of course, a trip to the opium room would have had her far less shy about it . . .

It wasn't that Eroina had qualms with the idea, she just didn't know what to say, do, or think about it. People here didn't take interest in her like that. They preferred it when she wore clothes. First and foremost: she wasn't what most people would describe as "alive." Secondly: she looked young, like a fourteen year old girl, and there were not many into that--and it just so happened that the majority here were adults. There was nothing morally or legally wrong with it, she just didn't get admirers like that, and it made her feel uncomfortable at first. In the end, the only thing she could think about the idea was maybe.

Fortunately, one of the other guests had come to help her out. It was true--she didn't want to leave her party. There were still so many people to meet! Maybe . . . later. Yeah! Eroina felt her anxiety die down quite a bit. That was workable. She really had no problems with the idea of someone examining her naked body; the whole thing had her nervous and self conscious, but she couldn't outright say no. During the party, though . . . she did have problems with it, then. It may have even been the entire reason she was so hesitant and nervous.

"M-maybe, um, maybe--ummm, a little later?" Eroina, now feeling much less nervous, requested, before looking up to the new guest, addressing the both of them, but primarily focusing upon him--it would have been rude to disregard him! She was able to smile again--innocently, cheerily. "There are still a bunch of people I want to meet here."

[Titan]

Just the reason I'd have rather been in a secluded room alone with the treasure seated before me. I actually had to consciously fight the desire to turn and try to catch this interloper's eyes in a dead stare. It was her party, why shouldn't she be able to do as she pleased? Of course, her pleasure was staying to meet those who hadn't the fortune to greet her before I'd begun stealing her time away so selfishly. "Oh well. There's always later."

In fact, she suggested it to me as a sort of plea bargain. That was agreeable; though the 'maybe' part of it did have me a little apprehensive. There was nothing I could do about it though. I couldn't force her to... I'd rather not try and force her to abandon the others to spend time alone with me. Conversing with her as freely as we had been was more enjoyable than her mindlessly doing or saying what I wanted. Then again, I did have a bit of incentive to help persuade her.

Disentangling my fingers from her's and bringing up my other hand to catch those free digits, I leaned down with a slight bow. There was not only the smoothness of my glove that she might not really feel, but the Dreamstone as well, held between our fingers. Leading her knuckles to my lips through the darkness of my hood, I lay a kiss to her flesh. Then I said in a somewhat stiff tone, "Sir, ladies."

When released she would be in possession of the stone I'd mysteriously found on my person. Before she could take notice of it though off I went, heading across the floor. I could only hope a need to know what it was I gave her would have her seeking me out, maybe later. I went to collect my pack and make towards the banquet hall; if I couldn't satisfy my curiosity, then I could at least go fill my starving belly.

_________________________________________________________
Note: Red is Tanis' speech. Blue I use for his thoughts.

[Cork]

Cornelius:

He almost had a difficult time hiding his smug satisfaction. He had successfully managed to keep Eroina here. The sooner he could give her his gift, the better, really (considering that meant the sooner he could leave, though not after having a chat with the Rift king).

"Thank you, Miss. First of all I'd like to give you my best wishes on this day," he gave her a small bow for courtesy, "And secondly, of course, is my gift to you."

He paused for effect.

"While it is not like the others you received, I do hope you enjoy it. It is not something tangible, but a poem that was written quite a ways ago by myself and one other - I do not believe he is with us anymore, and I don't believe he would mind me telling such a pretty girl."

He closed his eyes and cleared his throat so as to speak with utmost clarity, the poem wasn't very long, but it held much significance in his own life. He wasn't entirely sure why he was bothering to give her a present in the first place - Perhaps it was her youthful appearance and naivety. Cornelius could never be mean to children, and Eroina looked to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.

"It may not be entirely suitable for one such as yourself, but bear with me:
Final stand, final choice,
Let the people hear your voice.
As snow falls, Ice gathers round,
Heat of hatred tied and bound.
For our souls, our freedom fight,
Give up even our daylight.
Always forward, never yield.
This is the Snowy Battlefield.

Give us this day our daily bread,
Keep the demons from our head.
Battle raging, holy war,
Men in suits, keeping score.
Frightened children run away,
Bloodthirsty men come to play.
Neither good nor evil is in this place,
Just the faithless ones of Evanlace."

[Nayt]

There was a good chance that Eroina was never going to lose the effect of happiness when someone wished her a happy re-birthday. It meant that someone was giving her good regards, and suggested that they were happy to be there and meet her--which naturally had her elated.

"Th-thank you!" the girl exclaimed in response to the man bidding her a happy re-birthday, and the compliment.

He had called her pretty. Just like moments earlier, with the odd man who seemed very interested in her, she'd have blushed if she had blood flowing through her body. Eroina never felt self conscious until she got a compliment or someone was obviously eying her body over--though, it didn't necessarily have to be a perverted examination. Nonetheless, today had been the day when she most frequently felt self conscious, and while it was awkward and somewhat uncomfortable, it made her happy to receive compliments.

Just like Eroina enjoyed to hear a good story, she enjoyed to hear a good poem. Of course, a sad story was going to make her a little sad, just like a sad poem would make her sad--but this one wasn't necessarily sad. It was serious, that much was for certain. Serious and good. Her smile wore off, but she held not a frown or a look of disappointment of any sort; rather, she had a contemplative stare. It was a very good poem, something that could possibly even have music put behind it, albeit brief.

What she found herself contemplating was it's origin and purpose. Good as it may be, by the middle of it, she started to wonder what prompted its creation. It was composed by this man and another; were they on that snowy battlefield at one point, or was it a concept they dreamed up--a stint of creativity that called for the composition of lyric? The image was in her head, of course. That she could not deny--but fully understanding it was going to call for a question or two. Eroina just hoped that she wasn't prying.

"That's really beautiful . . ." the girl whispered, visibly and audibly impressed, but now much more curious than anything else. Once she asked one question, she had a slew of more, before the first could even be answered: "Y-you don't mind if I ask, do you? Um--where it came from? Or, why? Was it a real place, did all of that really happen?"