My Friend, the Fates are Cruel [Open]

"Infinite in mystery is the Gift of the Goddess, we seek it thus, and take to the sky," A soft gust of wind blew past her face, causing some strands of her hair to flutter about before her. She moved them behind her ear with her free hand, holding a small, well-read book with a red cover in the other. The path spread out to either side of her, but she herself had moved off of the trail. Her footsteps took her into the grassy plains, as she read her poem aloud with a quiet smile. There was nobody around for miles, she was certain, so she felt no need to stop herself from reading like this. If people saw her, then she felt like they would lose some respect for her. That would not be something she wanted. No, no, only she was to hear herself speaking a poem into the sunlight like this. "Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest." She smiled to herself, listening to the words that she had heard, time and time again. The poem, as she recalled, was known as LOVELESS. An ode to a Goddess long-forgotten. Another breeze passed over her body, and she held her hands against her clothing to stop them from fluttering about somewhat. She took this moment to pass her eyes over the sights that she could see. The city of Colburn loomed in the distance, barely out of vision enough to show Rydian towering above the rest of the buildings. A few creatures loped along the grassy fields, and Gaia could naught but smile at the beautiful sight she was perceiving today. The book was brought back up into her vision, though she knew that she did not need the pages to recall that poem.

"There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the Goddess, Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds," A voice stopped her machinations, and Gaia's eyes narrowed. The book snapped shut, and she turned on her heel to face the source. "LOVELESS, I see?" She was met with a raucous man, with a grin simply staring down at her. He looked, at least in Gaia's opinion, quite pretentious. "What does it matter to you?" Her eyes narrowed, and her figure stiffened. He threatened her. She didn't know why, but this man made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up with worry. The book was immediately moved towards her clothing, but he reached out with a quick hand and gripped her wrist, "Now, now, now, what do you have here?" He grinned at her, pulling the book away and looking at it, tapping his fingers on the cover, "A book of poetry?" He laughed softly, patting Gaia on the head with a condescending smirk. He was 6'4", a definite and full foot taller than Gaia was. She growled softly at his touches, before opening her mouth and speaking with a controlled tone, "Give... that back..." He laughed at her, "Or what?" Her entire body shook, "Give... that back... now..."

His laughter taunted her, made her quite angry. She clenched her fists as she tried to get her book back, jumping up into the air and being unable to reach it. "I'm warning... you." She growled at him, and the man just laughed further. "C'mon, runt, you really think you've got what it takes to beat me at this? Hah, you're wrong!" The grin on his face was making her really bloody annoyed, and her hand twitched towards the holster at her hip. No. Don't kill him. That's a mistake. She grumbled to herself, imagining all of the nasty things she would do to him if he didn't give her book back, when something shot out of the nothingness and wrapped around his body. It was a brown strand--if she had not been trained in the stuff, she would not have realized that it was a piece of Arcana. It looked like a tentacle of sorts, tying itself entirely around his body. She blinked a couple of times and tilted her head to the side, confused. "Were... we found?" She turned to the source of the tentacle-thing, to see a brown-haired woman with a brown dress. It seemed that her dress was the thing causing the tentacle-Arcana-thingy, since it was sourced somewhere on the surface of that. She sighed softly, this had just gotten far more complicated than she'd wanted. She would have eventually just shot him in the foot. Simple. Effective. A little messy, but who cares?

"Men like you..." It took Gaia a few moments to realize that hey, she actually had her book back! She blinked and looked down at the red-covered trinket, bringing it up to her chest with a soft, relaxed smile. This book meant the world to her. She didn't want to see it gone. "Irritate the hell out of me. Did you assume that since you were out here alone that you would not be punished for your wrong doings? Or are you really as stupid as you look? No... Don't answer that. I need not listen to someone no different than the dirt at the bottom of my shoe." Her words barely registered in the mind of Gaia, who was slipping the book back into the crevices of her clothing. She found the safe spot for the book to be contained, and proceeded to lock it in place with the small strap that she kept there. It sat near her heart--not over it, since bullets seemed to find their way in the direction of the heart, and she had no desire to see the book get sullied with her book. If she were to die, she were to die. The book wouldn't change much. A sudden yelp took her out of her quiet contemplations, as she watched the man get raised up into the air. As far as she could tell, he was a good fifty feet up. She frowned at this--the man was scared. He wasn't annoyed, or irritated. Gaia had been a little worried, but as long as she had her book back, she would have been fine. This man was frightened for his life. Gaia looked to the side and placed her hands on her hips.

"Are you alright?" Gaia was addressed, and suddenly her attention was back on Isana. The weird dress-thing kind of messed with her shape, so Gaia really had no way to comment on her body or her way of acting. Right now, her first impressions were of someone who was willing to act immediately without understanding the story. Gaia shuddered. She respected that way of acting, but at the same time... she slowly looked up at the man, before looking back down to Isana and nodding, "Yes, I'm fine... he's scared... he'll leave. Would you... please put him down?" She gave her best smile, trying to show that yes, she was indeed absolutely a-ok. Her voice was not quiet and timid. It was simply cold, in the tone of a soldier addressing her superior. That woman could defeat her. She did not need to disrespect her.

If the man was put down, he would run away screaming. Gaia could be certain that she smelled shit. At this point, she would tap the book on her chest and bow politely, introducing herself as Gaia Bianchi. If the man were not put down, or were killed, Gaia would wait to see what this woman would do to her. She was unsure of her motivations in this matter. It could get ugly, fast.

{Thread is still open if people want to join.}

"He chooses to harrass you and you don't want him to be punished? You're a strange girl, aren't you?" She frowned politely in response, He merely took a book. He is frightened for his life. I had no plans to kill him. His foot would have suffered, at the very most." She nodded calmly, though with a quiet shake in her voice. This woman frightened her. Even if she had come to try and help Gaia with her situation, such a massive display of power was something that could really get to her. She had her hand over her weapon while all of this was occurring, preparing to defend herself if it was necessary as such. The newcomer threatened the man one last time, and he exclaimed his want to escape as he ran. He was, for the most part, sorry. Gaia didn't envy his position at all, but she definitely felt a little bit sorry for him. He fell over and was picked up by the dress, still continuing to sprint away.

"Jeez... I let him go, didn't I? I could've just killed him... There. He's down and has been let go." She bowed slightly and politely in response, still giving her the respect that she knew she deserved. People that were absolutely superior to her needed all of the reverence that she could give. If stealing a book prompted such a display of strength, then it was entirely possible that taking a step out of turn would be a bad decision by Gaia. She shook her head from those thoughts and sighed quietly, "Thank you. I understand your choices, but he probably would not have stuck around for too much longer. As soon as I had my book back it would have been okay... I do not know what I would have done if he'd taken it away forever." She looked away as her cheeks reddened. It was an embarrassment to know that you were so easily bested by some common civilian, especially on his own.

"What brings you around these parts, er, ma'am?" What was her name? She wanted to know.