Patience & Grace [Runa,Felcia,Rajah,Rowan NPC]

[Akuma Shadow]

[This take place after "Searching..."]

The train ride to Barcelona was long and silent. Shadow, knowing it was better for both him and Runa, traded seats with a young boy. It not only helped him but it also helped the boy sit net to his mother. He looked about six years old and Shadow, being cared by his mother most of the remainder of his child hood, knew the importance of family ties.

Maybe that's why he wanted to really help Runa with this. Hell, he thought of spending some time with her after this was over but after what happen at the hotel and on the roof, this was just another mission of finding someone and then writing the report on it.

As the train slowly came to it's stop and the ding of the bell of the train rang to tell people that it was at Barcelona, Shadow quickly left his seat to head to the door. If it helped Runa any to calm down, he would take to the streets and be his namesake. As long as he kept an eye on her and at the same time help find Felcia, it will do.

[Runa Lisger]

Runa sat silently on the ride there, her emotions slowly working their way down from the high levels that they had held earlier in the day. She was just tired now. Tired of being upset, and tired of feeling tired. Shadow wasn't here, so why be upset? She could deal with him when they got off of the train.

She simply felt betrayed, like someone had just yanked the floor from beneath her, so to speak. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to Shadow, and she couldn't shake the feeling that him not telling her about Abbadon was important. It was a gut feeling, and it mixed with the dread that she was feeling about Felicia, leaving a bad taste in her mouth overall.

Luckily, the train ride was over an hour long, and it gave her time to think. She fell asleep at some point, which she knew wasn't safe considering that she was in the country of her parents' organization, but it was the only thing that she could do to clear her head. When the train finally stopped, and she heard the city's name called, she rushed away from the crowd into the outside, battling with the crowds there for people leaving and taking a train. She saw Shadow in the crowd, and she knew that he was going to follow her. She left the train without looking back then, wondering where she should go. She knew Barcelona a little, but she had never gone to the jin town before. Where should she start looking?

[Akuma Shadow]

Shadow went to a near by bathroom to change out of his Devil Saint clothes. It wasn't everyday that he traveled out out of the office for long periods like this and, well, would you want to wear your work clothes while you're out?

His "street" clothes were under the other clothing so it didn't take long to change. When he was done, he stood near a wall and watched Runa.



Here they were at the place but with no destination of where to go.

Are you going to talk to her about it yet? Lust spoke.

"Not yet," Shadow spoke to himself, "I'm on the job and right now wouldn't be the best time to talk about all of this."

Rage laughed inside of the youth's mind, Who are you and where is Shadow?

"Ha, Ha." Shadow ironically said as he shook his head. It was odd, though.

"You do have a point, I do feel a little different. I guess not talking to Runa like I use to does that to a person..."

Shadow walked over to Runa was, gently pushing people out of the way and occantionaly saying "excuse me" along the way.

When he got there, half way at least, he stopped.

"Where to next?" he asked.

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah awoke inside the room Rowan and himself stayed in the night before. The sunlight hit his eyes; nature's way of informing him that it was time to start the day. He sat on the end of his bed, dressed in only his blue training shorts and looked at the bed across from him to see Rowan asleep himself, who obviously haven't received the same wake-up call.

Rajah smiled while looking at his slumbering good friend. It had been too long since he had seen him sleep. It was one of the best things about him, simply because he was so peaceful. And if his memory served him correctly, he was definitely more friendly after receiving an adequate amount of sleep.

The Tora-Jin's smile turned a bit more playful after a quick stretch. He got on his bed and looked as if he were stretching like that of a feral cat. But instead, Rajah immediately pounced on Rowan, grabbing the lion and tickling his sides as he himself started to laugh from the sheer excitement of being able to do this to good friend once again.

"Wake up, you lazy lion," he said while laughing himself. "A new day is upon us!"

[Jin NPC]

Rowan was snoring heartily, mind filled with the best reveries a lion could ask for--to lose his feelings of restlessness, end his random travels and settle down with a family, have children, live out the rest of his life in peace. But he felt the light creeping upon the edges of his visions and he knew that he should not be sleeping. His dreamy thoughts fell into a darkness that represented the sleep of the weary.

"Wake up, you lazy lion. A new day is upon us!" Rajah's voice echoed in his head, and he let out a big snore upon waking, stirring suddenly and turning upon his stomach. Felicia, who had been poised sleeping upon his stomach, made some sort of yowl and jumped off as she was startled, shaking herself.

"Hmph?" Rowan growled, the purr generating naturally in his voice. He blinked a couple times, realized where he was and then popped up, claws raking through his mane. His vision focusing on Rajah, he took a deep breath, trying to get rid of that tired feeling. "Yes, yes, I get it..." He took another breath before standing and regaining his barings. They were going to Barcelona today to try and locate Felicia's sister.

"Shall we head out now...?"

[Runa Lisger]

Runa held herself. She felt alone, all of a sudden. Alone, lonely and unsure of what to do, like she had when she had first heard of Felicia's disappearance. She didn't know what she was going to do when she found her. Kill her--not literally; hug her? Take her to their parents because she wasn't a fit guardian after all? She couldn't help but to admit that this was the outcome over all. Having her job and taking care of her little sister with a few issues weren't compatible goals. She was either going to have to leave the Devil Saints and settle down with her sister, or have her sister go back to her parents.

She had been avoiding making that decision from the start; she was selfish. She wanted to stay with the Devil Saints and be with Shadow, but she didn't want to lose her sister. There was no telling what her family would make her into. She would only be the husk of a woman by the time Runa could come to take her back. Neither choice was wanted, but she still had to make a decision.

"I don't know," she whispered, both to herself, to her decision, and to Shadow.

[Akuma Shadow]

With all the the people that was around them and of all the sounds that was in the air, it wasn't hard for Shadow to hear 'I don't know' slip out of Runa's mouth.

He was starting to get the feeling that Runa was losing some type of hope in all this. But who wouldn't?

Shaking his head, he had to think now. This was a mission and if they plan on finding her little sister someone was going to have to do something.

Even if that person had no idea where to even look.

Shadow inch closer to Runa. Not in good terms or not, the Knight was going to have to get Runa going.

Grabbing her right shoulder, he spoke to her.

"Runa," he said softly, "You need to think. i really have no idea where we are or where to think of going. You know this. You need to stop thinking of the bad things right now and start thinking of where your sister might be."

Slowly, Shadow lost his grip on her shoulder and took a step back to look at her.

"Come on, don't doubt yourself. The only one losing is you if you don't pick up and think."

[Runa Lisger]

Shadow stepped forward, which was more than she had been expecting from him, and gripped her shoulder. He told her to slow down and think, to stop fighting with herself over everything that was going on right now. It sounded simply enough, but how easy was it, really.

Even though she could think of a million arguments as to why she couldn't do this--she wasn't really prepared, she was being taken off guard by Shadow's own terrible timing in this situation--they all seemed like excuses to her, and regardless of anything else going on, her sister was supposed to be the most important.

She took another deep breath. "There is a youkai settlement somewhere near here. Youkai and Jin sell things here and it's like...like a Marketplace. I said something about it earlier...I don't know exactly where it is, though. It's near Barcelona, but we would have to ask someone. I--I'll look around to see if there are any youkai in hiding in the vicinity...

[Akuma Shadow]

Shadow sighed, nodding his head as he slowly to his distance again. He hope talking some sense into her would work and it appeared it did. At least for the time being and that was good enough for him.

At least for the time being.

"Okay, you take the market place area and I'll look around here. Radio me if you find anything." As he turn the opposite direction, there was no joke to be said. No quips or words of hostility, it was enough of that right now.

Just the simple words.

"Be careful."

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

"I believe so," Rajah said as he stood up, stretching widely. "We'll loose daylight if we stall any further."

He turned over to Rowan and smiled calmly. "I'm going to freshen up a bit before we head out," he said as he headed toward the wash. "I shouldn't be long."

The Tora-jin took his backpack and gathered his blue tunic before stepping in the washroom, taking the time to quickly wash his pits from the sink and drying them with one of the rooms towels. He gargled some water; that always did it as far as sanitizing of his mouth was concerned. During all his years being around humans, he could never figure out how to use a toothbrush.

It only took him about three minutes before he stepped out fully dressed and ready to venture off. He looked at Rowan and Felicia, finding the two of them together absolutely adorable. He wanted to capture the moment so badly it was that cute.

"It seems you two have grown rather close," he said with a seemingly lovestruck tone.

[Jin NPC]

At the time that Rajah had emerged from the bathroom, the scene that he'd come upon was indeed as sweet as he had made it sound; Rowan was cuddling with Felicia, the smaller feline perched on his shoulder, purring and nuzzling him. They'd just had a wonderful conversation. Felicia was telling him about her past and her family, something that she refused to speak of while in the form of a human, she had mewed to him, because she was apparently coveted as a tool.

Seeing Rajah catch them made him blush, and he waved the compliment off. "No, no," he said. "I was just having a conversation with our ward here. She says that--" he began to feel her claws digging into his fur, a sign that Felicia did not want her information being given out so voluntarily, so Rowan lowered his voice to a whisper.

"She says that she can see into the future, and that she lost her sister trying to find a place that didn't trigger her ability. She says that she can see the future of most of the things that she touches. A lot of people are after her, however, and many of them are from her own people, her family. They have a lot of reach around here, especially in this country, so we need to keep quiet about it until she can find her sister. The girl we're looking for has been her guardian for a long time." Personally, Rowan couldn't imagine it at all; having to be such a small cat all the time to avoid seeing things. He didn't know much about magic, but he did know that it made things complicated, and that's why he didn't like it. He was a simple man. If you were good to him he'd be a friend. If you mistreated him, he'd rip your head from your shoulders. Magic just allowed for all sorts of technicalities, and Rowan didn't like those. He's rather his life be clean and smooth, like an execution.

"So," he said, his voice back to normal, "how about we get out there and try to locate your sister?"

[Felicia Lisger]

As Rowan spoke to Rajah, Felicia began to feel nervous. She wasn't sure how close she actually was to her sister, but she knew that Runa was aware of her birthplace and the location of her family's headquarters, and it was that fact that gave Felicia the feeling that she would indeed find her sister. Although she had enjoyed her solitude, she had been very selfish, being gone for that long without allowing anyone to know where she was. Hopefully, Runa had kept the family off of her tracks. Honestly, Felicia was becoming tired of running. No one seemed to value her for the other skills that she possessed, outside of her sister. Would she continue to have these visions forever? Was there anything that she could do to stop them? She didn't know.

Hopping off of Rowan's shoulder, she padded over to Rajah and began to nuzzle his legs, her subtle way of thanking him for his companionship. Rowan had been a great listener, but she knew that Rajah was also a good person. Kindhearted. Generous. She could sense it, and she was pulled to trust him immediately. She purred, trying her best to smile. She wanted to change into her human form an hug him, honestly, but she was afraid of what she might see...

[Akuma Shadow]

As Shadow continued his walk around the busy streets---streets he didn't know---he did figure out one thing and it didn't take long to figure it out either.

He had no idea who to ask for a market place for youkai. As much as he could ask around, it would look strange that a human (or a person that look human, at least) would want to find such a place. Even if he was to use his Devil Saint standing, it would still look strange and might draw the wrong people, namely Runa's family. He had to play it smart but that would prove impossible if he wasn't playing with a full deck.

Stopping near what looked like a bar, he reluctantly walked in. The place was empty except for the few pattens in the building and the bartender. He didn't know really why he walked into place but Shadow didn't have time to think about it as an old woman, about her mid-80's, approach him.

"You look like you are searching for something that is lost, no?" she asked in a soft voice. Shadow looked around the place: no one next to him or behind him.

I guess she's talking to me.... Shadow thought, I better be careful though...

"Uh, yes" he began to speak, "I am looking for some----"

The old woman quickly placed her hand on Shadow's chest. It was only for a moment, but Shadow thought he felt something go through him. The old woman retracted her hand back.

She slowly walked toward the door of the bar, stopping only when she reached it.

"You must look for the proud Lion and Shy Tiger. Only then will you find the one that you seek. To keep your heart, you must understand..."

"Understand what?" Shadow asked as he turned around but as looked, the old woman was gone. Shadow bolted to the door, she was gone.

That, he thought, was odd. Even for me...

Pressing his ear piece, he spoke into his radio.

"Runa, did you find anything?"

[Runa Lisger]

Runa felt the earpiece prickle her ear as it turned on. "Runa, did you find anything?"

"No," she answered back, "but I know that the darned place isn't here in the city. I'm at the border now."

She had been walking around for some time, watching the skies, listening, glancing about, taking in her surroundings. One thing was for sure; there were many animals, strays, birds, all migrating out of the city due west. All those animals could have only been headed for one place. The crowd was also spotted with visitors in hoods, and on one occasion, she could see the tuffs of hair from someone's ears poking out for just a moment. She decided to speak back into the intercom. "Pay attention to the crowds," she said to Shadow. I'll wait at the city border for you. There's a road at the West exit. You'll know it because..."

Glancing one more time around her, she saw a traveling caravan, banners on it waving with a fleur-de-lis on it. "There are frenchmen here. Their colors are white and gold. You'll see their banne--"

Someone roughly bumped into her. Runa looked up to see this that person was clearly taller than her, over six feet tall, and when she looked on her arm, she could see that there were scratches there, ripping open her sleeve. There was blood pooling on her skin, even though she felt no pain.

"I'm so sorry," a voice said, feminine, but with a little growl to it. This creature's sleeves were long, long enough to cover the claws, and they were gone just as quickly as they had been seen. Runa moved to get a better look at her accidental assailant. A mujina-jin if she was seeing correctly; a badger. The woman looked scared, tears in her eyes as though she were expecting Runa to cry out. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to," she said again, beginning to offer to rub the wound but remembering that her hands were the cause of the issue in the first place, and she tucked them away.

"Oh, no, dear," Runa whispered. "You're fine with me. Are you headed to the trading city?" She nodded, looking around nervously. Runa pushed a finger to her lips. "I'm fine, I promise," she said. "I just don't want you to get into trouble. Go ahead."

The badger-woman trudged on, clutching her garb around her, and it made Runa wonder what the humans here did to Youkai and Jin who caused trouble or were accused of such. She reopened the line between her and Shadow. "I'm fine," she said, before he could ask, "and I've confirmed it. This is the way."

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah looked at Felicia, smiling just as gentle as he was kind. He picked her up and touched her nose with his own, nuzzling his cheeks with hers gently as he gave off a loving and affectionate purr as well. He cradled her like a newborn baby as he looked at his longtime friend with a smile on his maw.

"Where do you suggest we look first, Rowan?" the Tora-jin asked.

[Jin NPC]

"I want to stay here in the settlement as long as possible," Rowan said, a loud, booming roar doubling as a yawn escaping his jaws. "I don't know how the inner city is taking to Jin at the moment, which is why we took the outside path here through the wild lands. We should keep to ourselves for now. Besides, if the girl is looking for Felicia, like she says, moving about will only make her sister's search that much more difficult. I need to get some of my armor polished as well. See the logic there? Felicia running away is rather the cause of this whole business in the first place, although I can't blame her..." he trailed off, grasping the kitten in his arms and hugging her close. She was such a small child, and she brought back memories for Rowan--of towns, of familiar people, and cubs playing in the streets...

Before he knew it, a purr was rumbling in his throat, and Felicia happily licked all over his face, purring too. But he put a stop to that after a moment, clearing his throat and putting Felicia back on his shoulder, careful of the spikes. "Er...let's go. This armor isn't going to shine like new by itself."

[Nagoyaka Rajah]

Rajah found Rowan's smitten attitude for Felicia absolutely adorable. In all honesty, he was somewhat jealous. He had never seen this side of Rowan when it was just the two of them, and Rajah was originally under the impression that he had gotten close to the lion to the point where he was able to get him to open up about himself more. Then he looked at it this way: at least he was witnessing it now. And he would be careful to bring it up in a way that didn't belittle him, either.

"That sounds smart," Rajah said, agreeing with staying within the confines of the city. As they left the inn, he looked around to see if the services Rowan required were anywhere in eyesight.

"Did you want me to meet up with you later?" he asked. "Or do you want me to tag along?"

Rajah waited patiently for his answer, hoping he wanted his company for armor cleaning process.

[Jin NPC]

Rowan gave a hearty laugh when Rajah suggested that he stay behind. He didn't know what he would have to face going to return this little kitty to her sister and her chasing parents. He was up for a bit of adventure, if it was a available and not only did he think that he would need the help, but it would be great for things to be like old times, Lion and Tiger traveling together as brothers, reader to lay one another's life on the line at a moment's notice. That's what it meant to be a man in Rowan's opinion, and all things considered, despite the distance between the two of them physically up until their happenstance meeting, it was good to be with Rajah and he wouldn't rather face any interesting even without him.

It was too much for words, however; it had always been too much for words, and the great Lion simply said with a smile, caressing the cat, "I can always use someone to polish my armor. It's heavy, you know." He threw his head back with his laugh, slapping the jungle cat on the back with a large hand, claws retracted of course, before turning to grab his belongings on his way to the door.

[Akuma Shadow]

The Pause in the feed thew him off but Runa was able to confirm that she was alright before he could even say a word about what just happen. She also said that the market was near by her location which meant all he needed to do was head to her and find her sister. Maybe then they would be able to talk afterwards. There was a lot they needed to talk about.

"Alright, turn on your tracker and go on ahead, I'll catch up to you. This is your case after all and I shouldn't hold you up. Just don't get into trouble." he laughed after he made that comment. It alright to laugh, they had a lead.