Dominic Charter loved it when he was let out of the university on an errand. He had gotten used to the looks people give him as he passes by them in the bustling college town and had much more freedom away from the vengeful eyes of the university's professors. In the rainy season, such as on this particular day, he didn't mind the rain; in fact, he would randomly jump in some of the shallower muddy puddles, just like a child.

However, Dominic had his own plans outside of Brunnhold's walls for the day, as he could feel the day of his escape growing closer. He needed to scout out the town and find every weakness he could exploit to break out. He would probably get punished for such tardiness once he got back to the college, but this was essential to his plan.

He would first familiarize himself to the parts of the town he had not visited, especially the streets close to the walls and gates of the Stacks, but before he even started on this venture, he needed to buy some bread before he forgot why he was sent out to the Stacks in the first place.

Humming a simple tune in a voice so low that no one else could hear him, the passive walked towards Half-Moon Bakery, the coins given to him jingling in his hand.

Calli was pleased to be in Brunnhold. It was twisty and turny in a way that she quite liked, they kept all the gollies behind a big stone wall where they were less likely to cause trouble for normal people (she was starting to feel a bit more hurt about being kept out of Vienda) and she was getting to spend lots and lots of time with Dorian.

Admittedly, not at that particular instant but she was a morning person and he liked to sleep in. It gave her some time to do things she wanted to do before latching onto her fiance.

FIANCE!

Calli was singing "I'm in love with a wonderful guy." Not loudly but not softly either, a grin splitting her face in two. She couldn't have been happier if she tried. She decided to walk towards the halfmoon bakery, catching sight of someone who looked quite servanty and waving at him. She would have looked quite weird to him, wearing figure hugging red and purple clothes, her flat shoes covered in sequins.

Living on the streets was not something what many would favour; except Ariel. She was taking the life as it was, but she also added some 'sugar' to it. Living slowly day by day, not worrying about where to get roof over her head or where to get something to eat; that was life for her. There were days when she got nothing, no money and no food, but she knew the next day would be better and that she would somehow manage to survive.

That was how she lived in the Stacks for some time now. Playing on the streets, sleeping on the streets, and, when she got some coins, eating on the streets. Because of that, her skin and hair wasn't as white as it should be anymore. Also, her clothes; not a nice sight or, to tell the truth, smell. But hey, she'll leave that place soon and then she would find a river or a stream and wash herself and the clothes properly. Speaking of water, the rain was quite a pleasant shower, although she didn't get squeaky clean.

With an earned tally and one hat, Ariel happily made her way down the street with intention of buying bread and something to drink. So her first stop was Half-Moon bakery. However, she stopped in the instant she heard a song; “I'm in love with a wonderful guy”. She looked around to see who was singing it, because the emotions behind the song completely overwhelmed her; she was not in love but she felt almost the same happiness this morning and she just wanted to share it with someone.

The girl to whom belonged that voice was waving to some boy and because of that Ariel felt a bit reluctant to say a word to her. However, she was not one of those shy people who would hide from the looks of others (she was actually unable to do that), and so she decided to bump into conversation anyway. Also, she wanted to add this song to her collection.

She approached the girl and waved to the boy, which was unusual since she didn’t know him. Nevertheless, she thought the singing girl knew him.

“I like the song you’re singing,” she said with a bright, kind smile shining on her dirty face.

“Would you care to teach me? I would love to add it to my, um, playlist, and if your friend,” she smiled at the boy too, “knows some songs I don’t, would he be willing to teach me too?” with those question Ariel actually forgot what was her primary intention.

Dominic Charter was used to many things, from constant glares by most eyes laid on him to murmurs about his condition. Having strangers wave at him was not one of these things.

When the first girl had waved, Dominic wasn't too surprised. After all, why would she be waving at him? There must be someone behind him waving back at her. He continued walking towards the bakery. It wasn't until he saw the second girl wave that he turned around him. Apparently, the girls were waving at him.

He studied the two for a second, not sure what to make of them. He decided that the first girl who waved at him was a wick, guessing from the vibrant colors she was wearing. The other girl would have to be human, he thought to himself. Her clothes were too plain to be anything else. However, both girls looked unusual, the former with her golden hair and the latter with her completely white form.

He stopped scrutinizing them, realizing he would have to return the gesture. He waved back at them hesitantly, a quizzical look on his face, wondering what they were going to do next.

Calli looked exceedingly pleased. She loved to meet new people! Here she had two new people, it was winning all around.

"Oh, I don't know him yet." She blurted, bouncing. "Sure I can teach you the song, I don't know how to write it down though."

Eriyenna's tutelage had been doing wonders for Calli but it didn't seem to be helping her reading any. For Calli, all those lines were just scratches on the page, little meaningless marks that moved when she didn't keep her eye on them. It was frustrating. Calli didn't think she'd ever be able to read music.

"I'm Calli!" She announced, loudly enough to turn a few heads for a moment, before they went back to their work again. "Who are you kovs... and chip?"

“Oh, well,” Ariel shrugged to Calli’s first respond. “Then we both will have a new friend,” she enthusiastically clapped her hands and looked at the puzzled boy again.

“Don’t worry about writing it down. I only need to hear the melody and lyrics; and then it stays in my head,” she lightly knocked on her forehead. “It’s so neat when you’re able to remember something just like that, don’t you think?” Ariel didn’t mean to brag, she was simply glad.
When Calli announced her name to the whole street, Ariel couldn’t hold back the giggle.

“I’m Ariel,” she introduced herself, but just loud enough so she and the boy could hear her. “And I’m a bard,” she then lovingly patted her lute.

“But I don’t live here, just staying for some time, and then I’ll move on. I wish to see the world, you know. Whole of it,” now she widely waved with her hands, forming a big circle, almost hitting a man that passed by them; still, his glare didn’t ruin her childish eagerness. “Then, I’ll meet a kov who will travel with me and I’ll be singing that song you are going to teach me now and ...” then she finally stopped the flood of her words, realizing that maybe, just maybe, she was talking too much.

As soon as the witch yelled out her name, Dominic paced quickly towards her and the other girl. He did not like the extra attention the three were getting. He reached what he thought was a normal distance between conversing strangers, if not slightly more distant, just as the white-haired girl announced her name. From their greetings, it did not seem to Dominic that the two girls knew each other. Hearing her story, a fleeting idea came to his mind. Maybe she can help me escape, he had wondered, but quickly shook the idea out of his head. He'd need to trust her first, anyway.

After Ariel had spoken, he guessed it was time to introduce himself. "Um.. My name is Dominic. I'm just.. uh, getting bread for the uh.. university." He wasn't much of a conversationalist. He wondered if they wanted anything from him, wondered if they even knew he was a passive to be treating him this way. What a strange encounter, he thought to himself.

"Oes, that's how the Crow teach it too. I just wish I could write it as well, so I don't forget any parts." Calli replied, quite glad to talk to a fellow musician.



"My last name is Bard!" Calli said, delighted. "I'm a performer too, we have so much in common! I'm here with my fiance, we're usually with Balder's circus but we went wandering, like you do."

It was more something that wicks did, Calli didn't quite know that humans didn't do it as well. She found herself quite intrigued by Ariel's hair colour and was just about to ask about it when Dominic spoke.



Calli's head spun like a top, stopping on Dominic.

"The university? With all the gollies?" She asked, mouth falling open. "Oh my gods, really? I didn't know they ever let people out of there. I heard they keep the students locked up and away from normal people and they all have to wear the same clothes in the same colours, all the time!"

To Calli, such restrictions would have been tantamount to sticking her in purgatory.

"Is it true?" She asked, closer to him now, eyes bright and intense and focused only on him. Her weak field was buzzing with excitement.

Ariel found Calli's behaviour amusing; actually, she kind off remembered her of herself. And not only that her last name was Bard, she was also a performer! No need to tell that she liked her instantly. In addition, at the mention of the Circus she remembered that someone recommended it to her. That's right, it was Tristaan! However, she never got the chance to visit the Circus; for no other reasons but lack of will and a wish of seeing Brunnhold.



Ariel looked at Dominic, studying him closely. She met one gollie; he was very rich and well aware of his own importance. Moreover, she had heard from her parents and other people from Vienda and the Stacks that gollies were, well , with some exceptions probably, proud and aristocratic and not really nice to other ‘lower’ races. Dominic, however, didn’t quite fit that description.

“Maybe that’s why he looks so sad,” she added. “Because he has to be locked up with the other students,” or wear the same uniform as them, she thought, although she didn’t understand why would he be sad because of that. She wasn’t a wick after all.

Her smile slowly disappeared as she noticed that something was troubling him. Whether those were explosive positive feelings both of the girls were experiencing or simply Dominic’s confusion and even distrust, she couldn’t tell.

On the other hand, she didn’t even thought that maybe he was just deep in thoughts.

Dominic snickered at the girl's exclamations. What misplaced ideas! He was about to open his mouth to tease her when she moved closer towards him, too close for his comfort. He backed away nervously, his smirk vanishing as she stared at him.



What?! Dominic thought to himself. He didn't think he came off as sad to the girls. These girls actually think I'm a student at that clocking school! He began to wonder if Calli was truly a witch, as at such a close distance, she should have sensed his lack of a field.

"No, no, no!" He shook his head profusely to clear up the misunderstanding, backing further away from the performer. "I'm not a student at Brunnhold. I'm..um..," He sighed and raised the right sleeve of his shirt so that both Calli and Ariel could see the dreadful tattoo. A psychological burning itch manifested on his right arm as the blemish was exposed. He quickly covered it up again, shrugging to the two.

He turned to answer Calli's previous questions, feeling slightly more confident now that he was no longer confused. "The school isn't that bad for the students, though. They do wear the same uniform throughout the year, but they are let out of the school, of course; it isn't a prison."

((Sorry I took so long!))

Calli recognised the tattoo, after all, she'd seen it before. On Tristaan and others, though they always seemed to hide it as quickly as she'd seen it. She became slightly more reserved immediately.

"Epaemo... I mean, sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up. My friend Tristaan has one of those, he's a Crow like me." She pointed to herself, though she carried no clan tattoos, her affiliation was fairly noticable to anyone who spoke to her. "It still seems like prison to me, staying in one place for so long? I'd go mad."

She seemed a little crazy even without being cooped up. Within her short pause her feet had kept tapping on the ground. She rarely stopped moving simply because she couldn't stop moving.

"They don't let the parse leave though, do they?" She asked, voice more quiet now, her head tilting to the side.

She really did not abide by telling people how to live.

((It's nothing .))

Ariel's eyes grew even wider as she saw the tattoo; she had never seen one before. Just like Calli, she was also sorry to act so, almost violently, cheerful, concluding the facts before they were even explained. Feeling embarassed due to that, she kept quiet while Calli talked.

She knew how humiliated passives were with the mark like that; as if it weren’t enough to be ashamed by your own parents. Or by your own race.

Not knowing what else to say and still wishing to somehow make things better, Ariel quietly began soon after Calli’s question with: “Nothing’s wrong with being different,” she then shrugged.

Again, she spoke before thinking that her words may result in negative response from the other. However, she didn’t mean to hurt anyone with her words.

((Yeah, don't worry about it ))

Dominic let out an inward sigh at the reactions. He did not like pity. He shrugged to Calli, putting on a brave face to deflect their pity. "I'm guessing by 'parse', you mean passives? They don't let us out as much, but as you can see I'm out right now. It's over there-" He pointed in the general direction of the Stacks' gates, "-where I'm not allowed." He then leaned in towards the two girls, contrary to his previous behavior and added in a quiet voice, "Though I want nothing more than to do just that."

He then leaned back to his comfortable position and his behavior went back to normal. He smiled meekly at Ariel's remark. "I want to travel the world, as well. I've never been outside the walls of the Stacks in my whole life. Don't really know what the rest of the world looks like."

Calli considered it, in so much as she was capable of considering anything at length. For her, the answer was simple.

"Why don't you?" She asked. "Travelling is fun. You just have to get out, without them knowing."

Calli nodded firmly, looking quite pleased with her decision.

"In fact, I know someone who can help." She said, looking quite sensible for all of ten seconds. "Me."

Ariel's mind was working like this now: Dominic was a passive; he wasn't allowed to leave Brunnhold; he wanted to travel. Next point: Calli was a wick; in those few minutes of knowing her, Ariel saw that she was similar to her (personality wise, of course); and right now, she probably had a mad plan in her mind that was constructed in, most likely, only few seconds. Ariel connected all those 'dots' and got only one possible result: an adventure!

"Oh, oh, oh, can I go with you guys?" her eyes shone with excitement and she could barely hold still now. "I don't want to miss all the fun!"

The boy stood dumbfounded as the two girls blabbered out loud what he was thinking of doing for years. As Ariel finished her last sentence, Dominic stepped hurriedly towards them and put his hands over the two girls' mouths. Realizing what he had just done, he pulled his hands away quickly and shoved them in his pocket. He apologized, but did not back away.

"I appreciate your concern," he started quietly, his voice almost a whisper. "But can you please calm down and keep your voices down? This is not something that should be heard by anyone around us. Maybe we should go somewhere quieter," he suggested. Feeling bad for bringing down the girls' enthusiasm, he gave them an apologetic grin. "I would love to hear your plan, but you two have just involved yourselves in very secretive matters." His voice was a full whisper now. "I- I have been planning on escaping for quite a while now, and if anyone finds out about this, I might be in grave danger. So please be more cautious from now on, alright?"

He backed away once more and felt his body shrink into itself. He had never behaved like this before.

Calli nodded, not quite furiously but close to it. The movement was as reserved as she was capable of making it. She looked around to see if any seventen were about. She couldn't see any but that didn't mean they weren't there. They were tricksy creatures.

"My lips are glued shut." She said, miming the action and ruining it by speaking again immediately. "Where should we go?"

In her defence, she had at least dropped her voice down to a whisper, looking between Ariel and Dominic with interest.

"Sorry," she mumbled with an appologetic smile and now pink cheeks as Dominic moved his hand from her mouth.

After a while, actually, after Calli's question, she shrugged. Despite playing on the streets, she didn't know the place very well. However, from time to time ske liked to peek through the windows; only through the windows of shops and taverns, to see what was happening or to see if the place needed a bard. But mostly to see what was happening.

"Stolley's Tavern is very dark," she said with lowered voice, barely even moving her lips. "But I'm not sure if I want to go there. It's so-" she shivered, "unpleasant; also, I think there's too much gollies there. The Brass Uncle is nicer, however we would probably stood out there; if not for the looks, then for the money. I surely don't have enough for that place and I believe I don't even look decent enough," she looked down at her shirt, only noticing that it wasn't just dirty, but also torn.

With a sigh she continued: "Don't know what else to suggest. Unless we go to one of the more secluded streets. Yet I don't know how secluded are they, since I mostly look for the most crowded ones."

Feeling somehow useless after passing her thoughts, she now looked at the passive.

((If I misinterpreted the information from Wiki, then please correct me .))

"W-we c-could always just t-take a back alley a-and s-stay hidden behind a ta-t-tavern or something," Dominic whispered, clearly aware of what a teenage boy's intentions are when taking a girl into a back alley. "All we have to do is try to not look suspicious. Nobody should notice us in the busiest streets."

His mind was racing with thoughts and ideas of how the two could help him get out. The urge to hear Calli's plan forced him to start moving immediately. "We should walk a bit farther away from here," he told his new companions. Away from Brunnhold. Away from danger. His stomach fluttered with excitement spiked with nervousness.

"Alleys are good." Calli said, nodding and taking Dominic by the hand. She took Ariel's hand as well, for good measure.

"Let us abscond." She said. "My friend Tristaan says that means 'go'."

She was quite happy to go anywhere and tugged slightly towards the first street she could see.

"I'm not allowed to drink because I do bad things when I do. I ended up in the rafters one time, I don't think Dorian would like that. He's my fiance." Oh, how she liked that word!

A thought occured.

"Hey, do you think it looks like we're up to something? What would two women and a man be doing in an alley?" She looked like the gears in her head were rusty. "Where does the second one go?"

Ariel let Calli to lead without questioning and wasn't bothered at all that she took her hand.



"What a nice word," Ariel commented. "It has such a lovely tone."

Along with mentally repeating the word, she listened to Calli's explanation too. Lucky girl; it was surely nice to love someone. But before she could say something in return, the wick spoke again.



Ariel shrugged.

"Concerning you're the one who took up the lead, I think we don't look suspicious; it would be different if Dominic were the one pulling our hands, don't you think? Or are we suspicious just because you're leading? People are used of boys leading girls, but how often you see a girl leading a boy and another girl? Maybe he should take the lead? Then again, why do boys lead girls? What-" closing her mouth for a second, shaking her head, Ariel then bursted with: "Abscond! Um, epaemo, too much 'lead' words. I had to clear my thoughts as that one doesn't sound as nicely as 'abscond'," speaking about sanity and ignorance of the bard ...

Dominic flushed at Calli's wondering and his face grew layer after layer of red as Ariel rambled on about the subject. However, the girls' cheery nature had loosened him up a bit and he giggled at Ariel's monologue. He was starting to enjoy his new company very much, not having had any at all for such a long time.

As the trio walked farther away from Brunnhold, Dominic felt his worries slowly slipping from his mind. They had reached a very busy part of the town where the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the busy morning drowned out their own voices. Dominic spotted a tavern with a dark back alley and decided it was safe enough to hide out there. He tugged gently on Calli's hand in the direction of the alley before taking a deep breath to pass the crowds blocking their path. They were going to have to be silent and fast at entering the alley to avoid unwanted attention.

((Mini-moded a bit here.))

Calli followed Dominic's tugging hand, though his desire to remain unnoticed was probably not helped by her loud clothing. She at least distracted attention from him. She looked like a twig coated in rainbow icing and topped with big, beady eyes.

"I don't know if me leading makes it worse..." Calli said to Ariel, enjoying having someone of similar background to talk to. "Say, Ariel, do humans only live in pairs? Most people I know do, except for my cousin Eddie, who lives with everyone and Mr and Mr and Mrs Chasedown."

They were across the street, the notice they had gleaned faded as soon as they passed. It did not seem as though it was the right time in the plot for drama to occur, yet. The alley was quiet and unpopulated.

"So, ye see, I'm very distracting." Calli said, glancing about just to check they were truly alone. "I think we can use that. My Dorian breathes fire too, which is even more distracting. Can we use that to help you sneak out? I can lend you some wick clothes, well, not mine, clothes for boys and all."

Calli turned to Ariel.

"What do you think? We could pretend to be a troupe, maybe. Do you have any ideas?"

What a curious question during the growing plan of adventure of greatness! Ariel turned to Calli to answer: “Usually, yes; although this depends of the size of the family. My family is small, only me and my parents. They are a pair now when I’m gone. In a big family, there are still pairs though; like dad and mom, and granny and grandpa, and uncle and aunt ... You know, usual big family,” she thought again this time. “Yes, we live mostly in pairs. Or alone,” thinking of herself.

Even though their ‘journey’ wasn’t that long at all, Ariel managed to lose herself in song she was mentally singing right after explaining the human relations to Calli.



That brought her back to the world of living again, for at least some time.



“To tell the truth, no,” she shook her head. “But I think your idea is wonderful! We’ll be like spies undercover!” oh, the excitement.

Yet, the remaining part of the sane mind of hers started working again. In an instant, Ariel became a responsible adult.

“But ... You think the guards would want a proof that Dominic is a performer? The galdori will notice he has no field; well, I don’t have one either, so that probably doesn’t count. And we can still say he’s our clumsy brother ...” the ‘serious’ one disappeared as soon as the thinking part was done.

“I think the plan will work!” she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice as down as possible.

Dominic couldn't help but smile at the girls' musings. They were so happy and care-free, so full of strange thoughts and a colored perspective on the world. Their ideas were amusing, though he remained silent throughout the conversation. He had much on his mind and did not have much to say about the subject.

As they entered the alley, Dominic found pleasure in the darkness and solitude. He crouched down onto the ground, pressing his back against a wall.



Dominic had thought along the lines of Calli's plan before. He'd disguise himself as a human and walk out of the town. But he was afraid of getting caught. All it took was lifting his sleeve to ruin the entire plan and he knew the consequences of being caught were going to be dire. However, with a troupe. . .



Dominic nodded. "I've thought about disguising myself as a human and walking out of the city, but they could always check my right arm and that would be the end of me. But a troupe. . . Now that's more convincing. I like your idea," He smiled in the darkness. "But since they will notice I have no field, like Ariel said, I might need to dress up as a human."

He got up and looked at the girls gratefully before asking, "Are you sure you want to go through with this? This is my problem, not yours. I really d-don't want to bring you any h-harm." He had taken a strange liking to the pair and would feel horrible if they got into trouble because of him.